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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
National
Geoffrey Bennett

Storm Eunice: Bristol roads remain closed and train services disrupted after high winds battered region

Storm Eunice may have blown through the South West but travel issues remain in her wake. Road closures are still in place for Bristol, Somerset and Wiltshire.

Travel updates at just gone 6am today showed the M48 Severn Bridge closed in both directions due to strong winds between J2 A466 Wye Valley Link Road (Chepstow) and J1 A403 (Aust). Traffic is coping well.

In Bristol A38 The Haymarket inbound was reportedly closed due to debris on the road between Christmas Street and B4051 (St James Barton Roundabout). Traffic is coping well.

UPDATE: Lewins Mead reopens after safety inspections

In Somerset the A396 was reportedly closed in both directions closed due to fallen tree between B3224 (Rest (Wheddon Cross) and A396/ Vicarage Court (Timberscombe). Traffic is coping well.

Also in Somerset the A3066 was reportedly blocked in both directions due to a fallen tree between Silver Street (Misterton) and Downclose Lane (North Perrott). Traffic is coping well.

In Wiltshire the A36 was reportedly closed in both directions due to an accident between Station Road (Boyton) and Salisbury Road (Codford). And the A3102 Westbrook Road was reportedly closed in both directions due to an earlier building fire at a house between A342 Devizes Road and Brick Hill.

Read more: 'Angry mob' of passengers stuck at Bristol Airport in storm

Train services disrupted

On the trains, this morning Great Western Railway says due to the storm services are being cancelled and disruption is expected until the end of the day. Work continues to clear debris from the tracks and move trains and staff to where they need to be to safely run the planned timetable.

A GWR spokesman said: "The extent of the work and the fact that hundreds of miles of track needs to be safety checked, means that train services will continue to be significantly disrupted on Saturday. We continue to advise customers not to travel at this time.

"No trains will operate on the GWR network until at least 10:00 on Saturday morning - with the majority of services not returning until the afternoon.

"Services in Devon and Cornwall have been particularly affected and will not run until at least 13:00.

"We're sorry for the continued disruption to our services. Our teams are working hard to get trains running safely again as soon as possible.

Please check the latest situation before attempting to travel."

GWR says tickets dated for travel on Friday 18 February and Saturday 19 February will be valid for travel later on Saturday 19, Sunday 20 or Monday 21 February. Customers are strongly advised to delay their journey until later in the day on Saturday or consider travelling on Sunday or Monday instead.

Further afield, multiple rail franchises have asked passengers not to travel today, as damage caused by Storm Eunice and the threat of strike action has led to many train services being cancelled.

CrossCountry has recommended that passengers do not travel today, as the are operating a "severely" amended and reduced timetable.

The train operator confirmed that a potential strike had caused for an amended timetable, however the strike had been called off and they had not been able to reinstate the original timetable.

Check your flight

Bristol Airport is advising customers to keep updated with the latest flight information by checking airline website and allow extra time when travelling to the airport in case of disruption on the road network.

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Read more: Section of roof ripped off iconic hotel in the South West

Also read: Covid now 'far less dangerous and feels like pandemic is over'

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