Eurostar trains cancelled after ‘unprecedented’ tunnel flood

Eurostar services to and from London St Pancras International have been cancelled due to flooding in a tunnel as festive disruption continues.

At least 14 services have been cancelled so far. Eurostar said it was “working hard” to ensure later trains could run, but warned of severe delays.

Southeastern’s high-speed services to Ebbsfleet have also been cancelled until the end of the day.

Travel journalist Simon Calder said St Pancras was “in chaos”.

People with New Year trips to Disneyland were in tears, he said, because their services were cancelled.

Eurostar, which runs services from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, said affected customers were entitled to a full refund or exchange.

It is the second time in 10 days there has been major disruption to Eurostar services with a “last-minute strike” by French workers halting trains before Christmas.

Southeastern said Network Rail and Thames Water engineers were working to fix the problem.

Separately, there is major disruption on Thameslink services – which run through London and across the south of England – due to staffing shortages.

The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for wind, rain and snow for large parts of the UK.

Speed restrictions will be in place on the West Highland Line from 10:00 until 09:00 on Sunday due to the forecast, Network Rail Scotland said.

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 (80.5km/h) 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.

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