Storm Dudley brings travel chaos – and Eunice could be ‘worst in 30 years’

Weather warnings are in place, with the Met Office warning the second of two storms to hit the UK this week could be even more severe (Picture: PA/SWNS/NNP)

Storm Dudley has landed and is already causing travel chaos – but there could be worse to come.

Friday will see the arrival of Storm Eunice, a separate and even more powerful weather system which is expected to bring blizzard conditions.

Forecasters say the front could see parts of the country hit with gale force winds unlike anything in three decades.

Weather warnings have been issued across the country and energy firms have put customers on notice that there could be blackouts. 

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) has warned customers to expect disruption to services in the coming days and not to attempt to travel at all on Friday.

East Midlands Railway (EMR) issued a similar warning to customers, with high winds expected to wreak havoc with networks.

There has already been widespread travel issues across Scotland, which felt the full force of Storm Dudley this afternoon.

A GWR service was stopped in its tracks by a trampoline which took flight this afternoon (Picture: Olivia Bull/SWNS)

Rail services across Scotland were stopped early as the worst of Storm Dudley moved in (Picture: PA)

Winds topping 70mph caused a HGV to overturn on a road in Northumberland earlier today (Picture: North News)

ScotRail wound down almost all services from 4pm amid fears of falling trees and blowing debris.

Ferries in Scotland have also been severely disrupted, with 20 of the 29 routes experiencing cancellations.

Avanti West Coast said due to damage to the overhead electric wires at Carlisle all lines towards Glasgow and Edinburgh are blocked.

Pictures on social media showed a Great Western Railyway service in Wales brought to a halt when a trampoline blew onto the tracks.

Met Office forecaster Becky Mitchell told The Mirror: ‘With the wind gusts we are forecasting at the moment, we’ve only seen a handful of storms in the past 30 years that have brought similar gusts. 

‘It’s got the potential to be up there as quite a notable storm.’

Parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and northern England have seen wind speeds between 60 and 70mph throughout the day – with some areas experiencing 80mph gusts.

Glasgow’s main train station was almost empty on Wednesday afternoon after ScotRail pulled services (Picture: PA)

A Ryanair flight aircraft struggled to land in strong winds this morning at Leeds Bradford and cancellations could be looming (Picture: LNP)

Scotland, Wales and northern England have had the worst of the weather so far but southern England will bear the brunt as the week wears on (Picture: Cavendish)

The Met Office has issued an amber warning for strong winds covering central Scotland, parts of Northern Ireland and northern England above Hull which is expected to last until midnight on Wednesday, with yellow wind warnings in place as far south as Birmingham.

The Environment Agency has one flood warning in place as of Wednesday afternoon near the Lake District.

These conditions will be followed on Friday by Storm Eunice, which is expected to bring even stronger winds and snow.

Another amber warning has been issued, with the potential for stronger winds, and predictions that gusts could top 90mph in the South West and South Wales.

The Environment Agency has warned of the risk of flooding to coastal areas in southern England on Friday.

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