Wind, rain and snow warnings as Eurostar trains cancelled

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The Met Office has warned travel delays and flooding are possible in parts of the country
By James Gregory
BBC News

A series of Met Office weather warnings for rain, snow and wind have been issued for large parts of the UK.

A spell of strong and gusty winds will move east across England and Wales, while sleet and snow is expected in parts of Scotland.

Flooding and travel delays are likely, the Met Office said.

Several Eurostar trains into and out of London St Pancras International were cancelled on Saturday morning due to flooding in a tunnel under the Thames.

Travel journalist Simon Calder said the station was “in chaos”, with Eurostar cancelling 10 trains, representing about 8,000 passengers.

High-speed Southeastern services are also affected.

It is not clear if the flooding is weather-related, but Southeastern said Network Rail and Thames Water engineers were working to fix the problem, with disruption expected until midday.

Elsewhere, a yellow weather warning for rain will be in place across much of Northern Ireland until 11:00 on Saturday. A similar warning starting at 10:00 will be in place for Wales.

Forecasters say flooding of homes and businesses is possible, as well as interruption to power supplies.

It comes days after Storm Gerrit left thousands of homes without power and caused disruption across the country.

A yellow warning for rain and snow has been issued for much of Scotland and is in place from 08:00 until midnight, with up to 25mm of rain forecast at lower levels.

The Met Office has said northern areas of Scotland are likely to see “significant snow” with up to 20cm on the highest ground.

Meanwhile, there is a yellow warning for gusty winds for Wales and southern and eastern parts of England, which is in place from 11:00 until 03:00 on Sunday.

Gusts of between 45 and 50mph have been forecast widely, while coastal areas in the west and south of England may see the strongest gusts of between 65 and 75mph.

People are being told to prepare for delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport, as well as power outages.

Earlier this week, Storm Gerrit brought widespread disruption across Scotland and northern parts of the UK.

A localised tornado in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, on Wednesday tore the roofs of houses and destroyed walls.

Greater Manchester Police declared a major incident and about 100 homes were damaged.