United Kingdom (Commonwealth Union)_ People across the United Kingdom have been thrown into travel chaos as flights have been cancelled and trains were delayed as Storm Debi arrived in the UK.
British Airways has cancelled 50 flights from London Heathrow today after parts of northern Ireland, northwest Wales and northern England were hammered by winds of up 77mph this afternoon.
Storm Debi brought wind gusts of more than 80mph to parts of Britain and Ireland on Monday, disrupting travel, leaving more than 100,000 without power, trees collapsing on to cars and roads being left underwater, BA cancels 50 flights to and from London Heathrow while ferries and trains were also disrupted, 100 flood alerts are issued – with more to come.
Several flights are being diverted from Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) tonight – as Storm Debi continues to cause disruption across the country.
British Airways stated on Monday that it had to make a “small number of cancellations”. A British Airways spokesperson told The Independent that like other airlines, they have had to make schedule adjustments owing to the adverse weather conditions across the UK and Europe caused by Storm Debi.
The spokesperson added that they have apologised to their customers for the disruption to their travel plans and that their teams were working hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible.
Some of the British Airways cancellations were to the hard-hit island of Ireland, in particular Dublin and Belfast City. Domestic departures to Manchester, Aberdeen, and Newcastle were grounded, along with two flights each to Edinburgh and Glasgow. The return legs were also cancelled.
Several European services have been axed: Amsterdam, Billund, Brussels, Dublin, Luxembourg, Lyon, Milan, Marseille (2), Nice, Oslo, Prague, Rome, Stuttgart, Toulouse, Warsaw and Zurich.
Morning arrivals from New York on Aer Lingus and from Helsinki on Finnair were diverted to Shannon in the west of Ireland at Dublin airport,.
The airport at Isle of Man saw many cancellations, including Loganair to and from Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London City, London Heathrow and Manchester. An easyJet flight from Manchester to the island in the Irish Sea turned back after making an unsuccessful attempt to land.
Gusts of 68mph were recorded on the Isle of Man, 74mph at Killowen in Northern Ireland and 77mph were recorded in Gwynedd, as the low pressure system moved across the Irish Sea.
A morning return sailing from Dublin to Holyhead in North Wales was cancelled by Irish Ferries.
A trip between Barra and Oban was cancelled owing to adverse weather in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
On the railways, the Stansted Express service between London and the airport and was cancelled for several hours because a fallen tree damaged the overhead wires at Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire.
Trains have halted between Leeds and Wakefield Westgate owing to damage to overhead wires. Passengers between Leeds and London have been advised to travel via York. Rail replacement buses are running between Leeds and Doncaster, although journeys are likely to be extended by an hour.
The main rail line has reopened between Birmingham and Coventry after overhead wire problems, which halted all trains for a time.
Rail passengers in Scotland are facing a wide range of issues, largely caused by flooding.
On the island of Ireland, 100,000 homes and businesses have been left without electricity following power cuts. A postal worker in County Limerick was also hit by debris amid the weather but was not badly hurt.
