Media centre

Wednesday 12 Feb 2014

Rail network update: Wednesday 12 at 11am

Region & Route:

National

Services to the South West out of Paddington continue to be the most disrupted as a result of flooding at Maidenhead and storm damage at Dawlish. Advice to passengers is avoid Paddington if at all possble today as services are very limited.

Nationally, the vast majority of routes are open and services are operating normally.

• West and South West:
  • A shuttle service is in operation today between Oxford and Didcot as a result of Thames flooding at Hinksey. This will limit the amount of services available
  • Two of the three routes to Exeter remain open with the route via Bridgwater, through the Somerset Levels, closed with 3/4 mile of the line underwater
  • Dawlish: work continues to repair the sea-wall. 11 shipping containers have been welded together and filled with sand and stone to form a new temporary sea wall and scaffolding is currently being erected to give workers better access to start repairs
  • A blanket 50mph speed restriction will be imposed between Exeter & Penzance (to include the Exmouth & Barnstaple branches) between 0600 and 2200 today due to very high winds
• Berkshire
  • The Windsor branch line is closed as a result of flooding from the Thames at Datchet. Services are terminating at Staines and onward road transport is available
• Surrey
  • A lanslip at Oxted has closed the branch lines to Uckfield and East Grinstead with service terminating at Woldingham with a shuttle service operating Uckfield / East Grinstead to Oxted
• Kent
  • The Tunbridge Wells to Hastings line is shut as a result of several major landslips along the route and will take several weeks to repair. A media visit is being arranged for Friday
• The North West
  • A 50mph blanket speed restriction will be introduced between 1800 - 2200 today due to high winds forecast impacting services north of Preston and far the north west

National Weather Summary

Another rapidly deepening low pressure will move East, North East across the country. Peak winds most likely Wednesday afternoon into Wednesday night, and it there is a threat of storminess again with damaging winds. The areas most at risk are still a little uncertain but models have firmed up somewhat.

Heavy rain followed by squally showers is expected. 15-25mm of rain in places, with the risk of heavy snow over parts of Scotland, including the Central Belt, and snow over the Pennines with a few cm. However, confidence remains is low on this. Mostly above 150m in Scotland, 200m in the Pennines.

High winds are likely across the majority of the UK today with gusts in excess of 55-60mph as a band of heavy rain moves west to east through the course of the day. A swathe of much stronger winds will affect Wales and the northern half of England this afternoon and evening with gusts in excess of 90mph likely for a time across exposed western parts. Winds broadly easing overnight, but may continue to gust over 55mph in northern England.

Overnight and into Thursday, the storm is expected to move away, followed by scattered showers and winds moderating.

The maximum temperature predicted today is 9.5 degrees in Anglia, West Country North & South and Wessex Outer. Elsewhere maximum temperatures range between 9 and 5.5 degrees. Overnight minimum temperatures range between 2.0 and 0.5 degrees.

Our best advice remains that passengers should check rail travel websites before they travel