Travel chaos sparked by Storm Henk aftermath, check if your route is affected

On Tuesday 2 January, the Met Office issued two weather warnings as Storm Henk brought terrible weather to the UK. Large parts of England and Wales were pummeled with rain and high winds; the highest gust on land was recorded at Exeter Airport in Devon at 81mph.

Now, the effects of the terrible weather are still being felt as more than 300 flood warnings are in place across England, with 10 in Wales and 1 in Scotland. Flooding and power failures caused some major delays on Tuesday 3 January, and this has run into today’s transport. Here’s what you need to know as a driver or train passenger.

Issues for drivers

Drivers in areas affected by flooding are being warned to drive slowly, and be cautious of surface water on the roads. Some of England’s main roads have been closed because of the flooding, including, as of 9:20am, the A52 westbound carriageway between Nottingham and Edwalton. A spokesperson for National Highways said:

This morning one lane of the eastbound carriageway has opened, while the westbound remains closed. However, water is flowing onto the road from saturated adjacent fields and with more rain predicted it is not likely to open any time soon.

Part of the northbound A1 near Lincolnshire is also closed this morning, between the A52 Grantham and the B6326 near Newark due to standing water.

Issues for trains

The railways faced problems yesterday because of the weather conditions, and this has continued to affect routes today. The BBC has listed the following issues:

• ‘Network Rail, which owns and manages the infrastructure, expects disruption to continue in the south and south-west of England because of trains and crew being displaced
• South Western Railway suspended services for several hours on Tuesday after trees fell on the tracks. It has urged people to check whether their trains are running as planned on Wednesday
• Some lines are blocked on Great Western Railway's network because of flooding
• There is also disruption on parts of Thameslink, Southern, Gatwick Express and Great Northern, while repairs to the infrastructure are carried out
• Southeastern said several trains from Kent and Sussex to London have been cancelled as they are not in the right place to start following the storm
• Do not travel warnings are also in place on two Greater Anglia routes

If you are planning to travel today, check your route before setting off to avoid being caught in any disruption.

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Sources used:

BBC News: Storm Henk: Hundreds of flood warnings in place and rail disruption continues

Sky News: Storm Henk travel chaos after 94mph gusts brought widespread damage