Hundreds of flights and ferries were canceled after strong winds forced thousands of people to sleep in the UK for Christmas travel.
From the Met Office yellow weather warning It was in place until 9pm on Sunday from John O’Groats at Land’s End, with gusts of up to 60mph and some as strong as 70mph in the hills and around the coast.
Gusts of 82mph, the strongest of the weekend, were recorded at Kirkwall in Orkney and South Uist in the Outer Hebrides.
More than 100 flights at Heathrow were canceled and passengers were warned to check the situation before they set off. An airport spokesman said: “We really know this is just before Christmas. It’s purely for safety that we had to do this.”
Most of the cancellations were British Airways flights. The airline said that it was free, that it was the result of the work, that he did not want to run away from the factory in the short-term.
A spokesman said: “While a large proportion of our customers will be leaving the institute, our teams are working hard to help those affected get their travel plans back on track at this important time of year.”
Services between Northern Ireland and Scotland were canceled on Sunday, including P&O services between Larne and Cairnyran and Stena services between the lines. Belfast and Cairnyran.
Stefan Donnelly, a 35-year-old marketing manager, traveled from London Scotland only to discover through social media that it was introduced during his Saturday night transfer to Larne.
“There was no communication from P&O, I didn’t ask for an email or a message or a text,” he said. “I was on the phone for about an hour and a half this morning, but I finally got through to someone.”
He said he had booked a hotel in Ayr and hoped to travel on Sunday at 8pm.
The cancellations come amid major problems over the closure of one of Britain’s busiest ports, Holyhead on Anglesey, a fortnight after damage caused by Storm Darragh. The port was supposed to reopen on December 20, but that date was changed to January 15.
CalMac, which operates freight services on the west coast of Scotland, said 29 of its 30 routes were either canceled or affected by disruption on Sunday.
Loganair flights from Glasgow to Barra, the Isle of Lewis and Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides, and to Islay and Tiree in the Inner Hebrides are canceled on Sunday.
The AA has predicted there will be 21.3 million drivers on UK roads on Sunday. That was slightly less than the 23.7 million killed on Friday, the busiest day on the road since records began in 2010.
A spokesman said: “If the congestion in the capital wasn’t enough, the weather could create the perfect storm. We advise applicants to allow extra time to travel and to increase the distance between themselves and other road users.”
The RAC has predicted there will be congestion hotspots on both sides of the M1 to Gatwick via the M25 and M23; Liverpool Chester on the M53; From Oxford to the south coast via the A34 and the M3; from the M25 to the south coast via the M3; and at the Taunton to Almondsbury gap in Bristol heading down the M5.
Great Western Railway he said straight between Crediton and Okehampton in Devon was closed on Sunday due to the weather.
On Sunday morning there were no trains getting to Stansted Airport in Essex due to the failure of points. National Rail warned of “major disruption” until 11am.
Forecasters predicted that Monday’s winds should ease and that there would be much stronger weather on Christmas Eve.
The chances of a white Christmas remain slim. Rebekah Hicks, deputy chief meteorologist for the Meteorological Department, said that for most it would be a “cloudy, nondescript day”.
“Conditions on Christmas Day and Boxing Day look to be remarkably milder for the time of year, particularly in the north,” he said. “East and north-east Scotland, for example, could see overnight temperatures that are 10C above average on Christmas morning.”