Storm Dudley Leeds: Northern service suspended, hour by hour forecast and LNER issues travel advice

Risk of flooding in Leeds currently remains ranked at ‘very low risk’ but a flood alert remains in place for nearby Wakefield, covering Ings Beck and Oakenshaw Beck.

The Government’s flood warning website warns:

“River levels have risen as a result of persistent (heavy) rainfall overnight. We expect river levels to peak between 9am and 10am, 18/02/2022. Areas most at risk are low lying land and roads. Due to further showers through today, river levels are likely to remain quite high throughout this afternoon, 18/02/2022, before falling this evening and overnight. Levels on Oakenshaw Beck are not likely to be a concern today. We are closely monitoring the situation.”

Millions of people have been urged to stay at home for the day due to safety fears over the impact of Eunice, one of the worst storms to hit the UK in a generation.

A member of the public has been taken to hospital with serious injuries after being struck by falling debris from a roof in Henley-on-Thames caused by Storm Eunice, Thames Valley Police said.

Tens of thousands of homes have been left without power, while flights, trains and ferry services have been suspended, and roads, schools and businesses have shut as potentially record-breaking gusts of more than 120mph have been recorded in the most exposed areas.

Even though the first of the Met Office’s two ultra rare “red” weather warnings expired at midday affecting the south west of England and south Wales, a second remains in place until 3pm across the East of England and London due to the combination of high tides, strong winds and storm surge.

But attention is already turning to the impact beyond Friday afternoon, with further disruption to travel and more weather warnings issued for Saturday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote on Twitter: “We should all follow the advice and take precautions to keep safe.”

Amid the chaos – with swirling gusts felling trees, tossing debris in the air, and damaging homes and buildings, including London’s O2 Arena – emergency services were forced to issue warnings for people to stay away from the worst-affected areas.

Roy Stokes, from the Environment Agency, said it was “probably the most stupid thing you can do” to travel to the most exposed places, amid reports of people climbing on to seawalls and swimming in the sea.

Winds of 122mph have been provisionally recorded at the Needles on the Isle of Wight, which, if verified, would be the highest ever recorded in England.

Across the UK, but particularly in the worst-affected areas, people were asked to stay at home.

Western Power Distribution said that, as of 1pm, more than 140,000 homes were without power, the vast majority of which were in the south west of England.

On the transport network, several routes were closed.

Wind speeds forced both the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge and M48 Severn Bridge into Wales to close to traffic for what is believed to be the first time in history, while the Humber Bridge linking Yorkshire and Lincolnshire closed from 1.30pm.

Train operators across Britain urged passengers to avoid travelling on Friday as emergency 50mph speed limits are in place in many areas, with no trains operating in Wales for the entire day.

P&O Ferries suspended all sailings between Dover and Calais, while dozens of flights were cancelled and hundreds delayed across UK airports.

Elsewhere, Royal Mail said it “had no choice” but to suspend deliveries and close delivery offices in parts of the country due to safety concerns.

The Environment Agency has now downgraded 10 severe flood warnings – eight along the Severn and two along the Wye – meaning there was a danger to life, as well as dozens of flood warnings and more than 100 flood alerts.

It said Eunice had “not resulted in the significant impact initially forecast”.

A separate amber weather warning is also in place for gusts across England until 9pm, as well as yellow warnings for snow in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Met Office has issued a less-severe yellow wind warning for much of the south coast of England and South Wales on Saturday, which it said “could hamper recovery efforts from Storm Eunice”.

Several red warnings were issued in late February and early March 2018 during the so-called Beast from the East, the storm that brought widespread heavy snow and freezing temperatures to many parts of the UK.

One person has been been killed by a falling tree as Storm Eunice brought damage, disruption and potentially record-breaking gusts of wind to the UK.

The death of the man in County Wexford was confirmed by police in Ireland.

Storm Eunice is causing travel chaos, with hundreds of flights cancelled, rail lines blocked and road bridges closed.

A rare “do not travel” alert was issued across Britain’s railways, as eight operators suspended all services.

In Leeds, there is a yellow weather warning for Leeds and ice.

Aviation analytics firm Cirium said at least 436 flights due to take off or land at UK airports were cancelled on Friday.

At Leeds Bradford Airport, most scheduled flights have been cancelled.

Depatures

The Eastern Airways flight to Southampton has been cancelled.

Three flights going to Belfast City have been cancelled. The flights were being flown by Aer Lingus, British Airways and EasyJet.

The KLM slight to Amsterdam has been cancelled.

Ryanir flights to Prague, Bratislava, Malaga, Faro, Wroclaw and Dublin are still scheduled to go ahead.

Arrivals

Flights arriving into Leeds Bradford Airport are experiencing delays and cancellations.

Flights from Belfast, with several carriers, have been cancelled.

Flights from Southampton have been cancelled.

The #M1 is CLOSED northbound between J39 (#Wakefield) to J41 (#Morley) due to two overturned lorries.

The Environment Agency’s executive director of operations, John Curtin, said approximately 18,000 homes had been protected by flood defences during Storm Eunice.

Speaking to reporters beside demountable defences along the River Severn in Bewdley, Worcestershire, Mr Curtin said: “With Storm Eunice our biggest concern was the tidal risk.

“We had high tides, plus Storm Eunice pushing a surge up.

“It hit the South West first, it’s now rolling across the south coast… but luckily our defences have held it back and we think about 18,000 homes have been protected by Environment Agency defences.”

London Fire Brigade has declared a “major incident” due to the volume of 999 calls over Storm Eunice.

The brigade said on Twitter: “We have declared a major incident in response to the volume of 999 calls being taken about #StormEunice related incidents.

“Firefighters are still meeting the needs of our communities, but declaring a major incident allows us to focus our resources.

“We’ve introduced batch mobilisation, meaning calls where there is a risk to life are prioritised and crews then attend other calls as non-emergencies when they can.

“Control took 550 calls between 1030 and 1300 – more than the average number usually taken in a 24-hour period.”

A road is blocked in Armley due to a fallen tree.

The tree is blocking both Heights Way and Albany Terrace.

First Bus confirmed that the 15 service is diverting in both directions.

The bus company said: “Heights Way/Albany Terrace is blocked due to a fallen tree.

“Services 15 are diverting via Wortley Road, Whingate, Tong Road, Pudsey Road and Greenthorpe Road in both directions.

“We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

Photo taken by Louise Baines: