Met Office issues warning for strong winds and disruption for people travelling on Christmas Eve

Millions of people were expected to travel today ahead of Christmas festivities but shut train stations and bad weather has caused disruption, as Mahatir Pasha reports

People heading home for Christmas have faced a disrupted journey with two of Britain's busiest train stations closed for engineering works.

The weather was also expected to cause issues but strong winds across Scotland and the north of England have seemed to cause any major problems.

Travel disruption was expected on the roads and rail, with gusts of up to 70mph due to hit, said the Met Office.

It has issued yellow weather warnings, covering Scotland and northern and central parts of England, but other areas could still see windy conditions.

The weather service has also warned of damage to buildings, while the rest of the country may see showers.

London Paddington and Kings Cross Station are shut today for engineering works and there are no mainline trains traveling to Heathrow airport.

The AA has warned of “lengthy jams” for traffic. Drivers have been advised by the RAC to travel before 11am or after 6pm to reduce the chance of being stuck in queues.

And rail disruption is likely as two of London’s railway stations, King’s Cross and Paddington, will be shut due to engineering works.

The closure of London Paddington will continue until Wednesday, meaning no mainline trains will serve Heathrow Airport.

Forecaster Jonathan Vautrey said: “Obviously there will be quite a lot of people travelling and wanting to get home for Christmas itself.

“Particularly with these strong winds we could see some flying debris thrown on to particular roads or railway services, so if you get a tree down then that’s going to cause cancellations and delays.

“There’s the potential for isolated power cuts which will again lead to the risk of some disruption at times.

“If you’ve got a particular train that you’re catching make sure you’re looking ahead of time if there have been any cancellations.

“Just make sure you’re driving carefully, there’s the potential that high-sided vehicles could get hit by strong gusts of wind which has the potential to cause impacts, so we might see bridges closing as well.”

Christmas Day forecast

Meteorologist Liam Eslick said there may be snow on December 25 on mountains in Scotland but it is “not looking likely that there will be a white Christmas in England”.

A yellow weather warning for rain is currently in force covering much of Wales, with forecasters warning that flooding and travel disruption is possible, and will last until 6pm on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day is expected to be a lot milder than usual, with the top temperature that could be seen at 14C.

The warmest Christmas Day on record was 15.6C in 1920, so there is a “small chance” of it being a record, Mr Eslick added.

Most of the country will be damp on Monday, with heavy rain possible in Wales, though it is expected to brighten up after lunchtime.

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