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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Tim Hanlon

Brits face travel mayhem with train lines shut and roads blocked after Storm Eunice

Brits face major travel disruption today due to the devastation caused by Storm Eunice while clean up efforts are being hampered by more severe weather.

Many train services will again be cancelled on Saturday morning - after they were stopped during the full force of the gales on Friday - and "do not travel" notices have been reissued for a number of services, according to National Rail Enquiries.

There have been notices reissued for the Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern networks for Saturday morning where some routes are not expected to reopen until the afternoon.

South Western Railway expects significant disruption across their network in the morning, while Great Western Railway and Greater Anglia services are suspended until approximately 10am.

Passengers are still being asked to avoid travelling where possible.

A fallen tree is sawn up after causing travel disruption on Battersea Bridge Road, in south west London (PA)

The storm that landed in the early hours of Friday morning has caused travel chaos, with hundreds of rail lines blocked and road bridges closed.

People were advised not to travel on railways in England and Wales on Friday, as seven operators suspended all services, with footage showing a building roof being blown on to tracks.

The train operators which stopped running all services on Friday afternoon were: c2c, Chiltern Railways, Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia, South Western Railway, Southeastern and Transport for Wales.

As of early Saturday morning the National Rail website still listed no services for: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, Grand Central, Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia, Heathrow Express, South Western Railway, Stansted Express and Transport for Wales.

A British Airways passenger plane struggles with the high winds on approach to Heathrow Airport (Getty Images)

Meanwhile, CrossCountry Trains has asked passengers not to travel on Saturday "following cancelled strike action".

The provider wrote on Twitter : "Whilst a strike has been called off, we have not been able to reinstate our timetable. An amended timetable runs today."

More than 430 flights due to take off or land at UK airports were also cancelled on Friday.

Travel chaos is set to continue into the weekend (PA)

On the roads, the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge and the M48 Severn Bridge, which link England and Wales across the River Severn, were closed due to high winds.

It is believed to be the first time both crossings have been closed simultaneously.

Earlier, Network Rail closed all routes in Kent while every line in south-east London was blocked by trees.

A fallen tree blocking a road in Sudbury, Suffolk (PA)

Preston train station also closed to passengers, with rail engineers inspecting sections of metal roof panelling that came off due to the winds.

The Port of Dover announced it was closed "in the interests of customer and staff safety", meaning no ferries could operate between Dover and Calais.

Several sailings across the Irish Sea were also cancelled.

Traffic Wales, the Welsh Government's traffic information service for motorways and trunk roads, warned that "many HGVs are ignoring the safety advice on Britannia Bridge".

A boat is blown upside down on Brighton seafront by the gales (Getty Images)

The bridge, which connects the island of Anglesey with mainland Wales, is closed to all traffic except cars and car-derived vans.

There were one-hour delays on the M25 due to the closure of the Queen Elizabeth II bridge, which is part of the Dartford Crossing.

The RAC said the number of call-outs to broken-down vehicles was lower than normal, indicating that many people were "taking the weather warnings seriously and not setting out".

It added: "The fact many roads are so clear is a sign that today is not a safe day to be driving."

Transport for London have also urged people to avoid non-essential journeys in the capital.

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