Worst storm in decades grinds Britain to a halt: Chaos as scores of flights and trains are cancelled

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Live coverage of planes trying – and often failing – to land at Heathrow in Storm Eunice’s 120mph gusts while commentated on by Britain’s most enthusiastic planespotter has become an online sensation.

Tens of thousands of people have spent hours watching stomach-churning footage streamed by Big Jet TV of airliners touching down almost sideways at Britain’s busiest airport.

And host Jerry Dyer’s dramatic commentary as planes were thrown around by the wind on approach – and his ecstasy as they came down, often on one wheel – thrilled the 130,000-plus people watching around the globe as Eunice peaked at midday. 

It came as Storm Eunice laid waste to Britain’s transport infrastructure as its gusts ripped across the UK in a 16-hour blast. One gust on the Isle of Wight hit 122mph – provisionally the highest gust ever recorded in England. 

Viewers were enthralled as Mr Dyer, a former interior designer from Sussex, yelled over the wind ‘that is insane’, ‘go on my son’, ‘you beauty’, ‘bosh, get it down mate’ and ‘wallop’ as the jets touched down. On one occasion he sparked a flurry of tweets as he screamed: ‘Here come the Russians’ as an Aeroflot plane approached, a phrase which then began trending on Twitter. 

Later he screamed: ‘The big daddy from Qatar is coming in’, sang Patsy Kine’s ‘Crazy’ when the winds peaked and promised viewers he would stay next to the runway filming until ‘Eunice stops’. 

Speaking from the paddock next to Heathrow’s south runway, Mr Dyer, whose job appears to be going from airport-to-airport and streaming it on YouTube, told BBC Radio 2: ‘This is the best scenario you could possibly imagine – big kudos to the pilots and the crews working at the airports, this is the most exciting stuff you could possibly get.

‘Right now, these conditions with 70mph gusting winds, it’s pretty intense. And what is great is you get to see the skill of the pilot and how they manage to handle it’.

And praising the pilots he said; ‘Although this is a lot of fun, don’t forget, it’s all about the pilots, they’ve got big cahoonas, you know. But the ladies… Obviously not’. 

Big Jet TV captured the moment many of the jets were forced to make multiple attempts to land. One plane from Chicago had three tries before flying on to Geneva. One BA service from Edinburgh to Heathrow got all the way to London before turning back and returning to Scotland. A TAP Air Portugal flight from Athens was filmed making contact  with the runway before the pilot lost his nerve and taking off again.

Other planes from Europe got to the south coast before turning back for their airport of origin as at least 20 planes tried and failed to land. 

Hundreds of train and ferry services are cancelled, bridges and roads shut and 100-plus planes were grounded as major airlines including British Airways and easyJet axed flights. London City Airport is shut completely until 4.30pm at the earliest.

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Millions of Britons were also urged to stay at home today with Transport for London, Network Rail and Highways England advising people not to travel after the Met Office issued a rare ‘red warning’ for 100mph winds over southern England including London.

Roads and railways were shut down even before Storm Eunice hit Cornwall and south Wales at dawn this morning. As the storm tore from west to east, trees fell on railway lines and power cables as the gusts increased, trapping passengers on trains in Kent and Sussex this morning. 14,000 homes lost electricity.

The disruption came as Network Rail staff worked to reopen lines hit by Storm Dudley earlier this week. 

And as people were told to stay inside, TomTom traffic data showed that in London and other major cities congestion levels were the quietest since the holiday season ended on January 4.  When excluding the Christmas period, traffic levels hadn’t been so low since the 2021 August bank holiday.

At Heathrow on Friday, at least 65 flights – both departures and arrivals – were cancelled and a further 114 were delayed by more than 15 minutes, according to aviation data provider FlightStats by Cirium. At Gatwick there were 15 cancellations and 67 delayed flights.      

All ferries between Dover and Calais were cancelled at around 10am, hitting many people who were returning from France during half term for ski holidays. 

As Eunice wreaked havoc on travel plans, it emerged: 

Storm Eustice has been billed as the worst storm to hit the UK in 30 years – as lorry, caravan and motorbike drivers are warned to stay off motorways and Jake Kelly, from Network rail, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme passengers are ‘very very strongly advised not to travel’. 

Trains and flights have been cancelled after National Highways and the Met Office issued a severe weather alert for strong winds covering motorways and some A roads in England from 6am to 6pm. 

Eastern Airways axed its London-Gatwick service and Exeter Airport has cancelled three domestic flights. Some 80 British Airways flights in and out of Heathrow and London City have been cancelled, while Scottish airline LoganAir cancelled 32 – all flights serving England and Wales. 

British Airways’ cancelled flights include 44 serving London Heathrow Airport and 36 serving London City Airport in UK. All flights in and out of London City Airport are cancelled until at least 4.30pm.

National Highways said there is a ‘particularly high risk’ that high-sided vehicles and other ‘vulnerable’ vehicles such as caravans and motorbikes could be blown over in winds of up to 100mph. Those using such vehicles were told not to travel on bridges, viaducts and exposed highways throughout England.  

Four ferry services between Rosslare in south-east Ireland and Pembroke, South Wales, were cancelled by Irish Ferries, as Stena Line cancelled several sailings on routes between Belfast and Cairnryan in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland, and Dublin and Holyhead in North Wales.

Millions were last night told to remain indoors, work from home, cancel travel plans and stay away from the coast as the storm, which carries a threat to life warning in much of south England and Wales, began to sweep across Britain. 

Meteorologist Ryan Maue has warned Eunice could bring ‘hurricane-like’ winds to the UK as Darren Bett, a BBC weather forecaster, said ‘don’t be fooled, there is some much windier weather to come’.

Simon Calder, the Independent’s travel editor, told BBC Breakfast: ‘If you are in England and Wales do not try and travel by train’. He added that Wales was the first UK nation to ever cancel its entire train network, amid fears debris could cause a serious crash later today were trains to run. 

The Environment Agency’s Roy Stokes warned Britons to ‘sit tight for the day’ and ‘don’t travel if you don’t need to’. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: ‘Please do not go anywhere near coastal defences to coastlines. You are only putting yourself and emergency services in danger.’

Transport for London (TfL) urged people to avoid non-essential travel in the capital. A spokeswoman said: ‘Due to the Met Office’s red warning over Storm Eunice, customers are advised to only travel if essential, and those who need to should check before they travel using our website and the TfL Go app.

‘We are doing all we can to ensure we are prepared for any impact with extra staff ready to respond quickly to any incidents, but some services will be affected by the extreme weather.

‘We are also urging Londoners to please take care if they travel around the city.’

Experts are concerned the conditions could create an extremely dangerous weather phenomenon known as the ‘sting jet’ – a narrow, focused region of exceptionally strong and destructive wind.

It would be the first instance of such an event since the Great Storm of 1987 as Boris Johnson yesterday said the Army was on standby to help those affected.

Families have been warned to expect falling trees, flying debris, severe flooding, roofs blown off and downed power lines. There are also fears of blocked roads and rail routes, disruption to flights and the threat of 40ft waves on Britain’s shores.

Forecasters are especially worried because the storm is hitting during the morning rush hour – and in heavily populated areas.

Last night, much of the country began closing down in anticipation of its arrival. Some rail and bus networks announced they would shut completely. 

This morning a train due to arrive in Paddington from Bristol this morning was more than 40 minutes late, while others – to Didcot Parkway and Bristol Temple Meads – were cancelled. 

British Airways said in a statement: ‘Like other airlines, we’re expecting extreme weather conditions at airports across the UK as a result of Storm Eunice, which will cause significant disruption.

‘Safety is our number one priority, and we’re cancelling a number of flights.

‘We’re doing everything we can to minimise disruption for our customers, including putting on larger aircraft where possible and providing a range of flexible rebooking options.

‘We’d like to thank customers for their patience and advise them to check the latest flight information on our website before heading to the airport.’

Jet2 has delayed a couple of flights to Tenerife and Turkey, which may fly later this afternoon once the worst of the storm has passed. 

Heathrow Airport wrote on Twitter: ‘High winds and poor weather may cause last-minute delays, but we will do everything in our power to minimise any disruption that results.’

Train firms on the East and West Coast main line, including LNER, Grand Central and Avanti West Coast, all say passengers booked to travel today can switch to other days without penalty.

Rail passengers who do try to make journeys today face much slower trips, with emergency speed restrictions in place and sharply reduced services. Widespread flight disruption is also expected.

East Midlands Railway has advised that trains to and from London St Pancras ‘may be withdrawn at short notice’ due to Storm Eunice.

‘You should only travel if your journey is unavoidable,’ the firm added on Twitter.

National Rail said there would be no trains between Nottingham and Skegness until about 8am, and Northern said it was advising customers ‘NOT TO TRAVEL across the Northern network’.

Mr Kelly, of Network Rail, added: ‘It’s going to be a very difficult day. Fundamentally it’s right to expect lots of trees will be blown down and there’ll be other damage. There will be a lot of disruption. 

‘We are going to run a service for those who absolutely need to travel but it’ll be disrupted. In a small number of places there are no trains at all. The south west coast and parts of Wales. 

‘Elsewhere we are expecting to run a disrupted service. Two pieces of advice, be prepared for very significant delays and second check your train is running at all.’ 

Trains are enforcing emergency 50mph speed limits in many areas to make it easier for drivers to brake if they spot objects on the track or damage to overhead wires caused by strong winds.

Great Western Railway warned that it expects to ‘significantly reduce’ the number of long-distance services it runs, while the main line through South Wales and some branch lines in Devon and Cornwall will be closed.

Among the firms advising customers not to travel on Friday include Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Great Northern, London North Eastern Railway, Southern and Thameslink.

Network Rail staff worked to reopen lines hit by Storm Dudley earlier this week. Roads were also expected to be treacherous on Friday.

The AA said on Thursday it was ‘experiencing a very high demand’ for its breakdown rescue services.