‘Worst of Storm Bert yet to arrive’ amid gridlocked roads and cancelled flights

Thousands of homes are without power, roads are flooded and flights person been cancelled – but the worst of Storm Bert is inactive to come, according to UK powerfulness chiefs.

Winds of up to 70mph are acceptable to batter coastal areas and, arsenic temperatures emergence connected Saturday, melting snowfall and dense rainfall are causing flooding.

The National Grid said astir 4,000 homes successful its portion of the Midlands, south-west England and southbound Wales, are without power.

Ross Easton, of Energy Networks Association (ENA) – which represents the UK’s powerfulness web operators, said: “There are a fewer localised weather-related powerfulness cuts successful parts of Britain this morning. However, for astir parts of the state the terrible upwind hasn’t yet had a important impact.

“Forecasters are describing this arsenic a ‘multi-hazard event’ with the worst of the upwind yet to arrive, and truthful our members person other engineers and interaction centre teams available, and power rooms are monitoring the tempest intimately arsenic it develops.”

The M48 Severn Bridge successful Gloucestershire was closed due to the fact that of beardown winds, and the A66 successful County Durham was closed some ways betwixt the A67 and A645 owed to snow.

Traffic has been astatine a standstill connected the M80 adjacent Castlecary, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Flights were disrupted astatine Newcastle Airport arsenic dense snowfall deed the North East overnight and into Saturday morning.

Some arrivals were diverted to Belfast and Edinburgh portion the airport’s snowfall squad tried to minimise disruption.

Six upwind warnings stay successful spot and Scots are being urged not to question “unless perfectly necessary” arsenic Storm Bert continues to origin question disruption crossed the country.

Forecasters person predicted arsenic overmuch arsenic 40cm of snowfall connected precocious grounds successful Scotland arsenic cardinal areas stay successful an amber alert for snowfall and crystal until 5pm today.

Avanti West Coast has cancelled its work betwixt Edinburgh and Carlisle each time connected Saturday with the adjacent nonstop work from Carlisle not scheduled to tally until Sunday afternoon.

Further south, dense showers are hitting England. The Met Office forecasts dense rainfall processing overnight and into Sunday for south-west and confederate England, stretching from Oxford to Truro.

The yellowish informing is successful spot from 6am Saturday until 11.45pm connected Sunday and up to 70mm of rainfall could autumn during this time.

There is simply a accidental that immoderate places implicit Dartmoor could spot 100-150mm of rainfall, the nationalist upwind work said.

The Championship shot lucifer betwixt Blackburn Rovers astatine Portsmouth astatine Ewood Park, Lancashire, was postponed owed to torrential rainfall flooding the pitch.

A upwind informing covers coastal areas of confederate England and Wales from 9am connected Saturday until 9pm connected Sunday.

UK Power Networks, the relation for the eastbound and south-east of England, has warned radical to enactment distant from overhead powerfulness lines amid the gusts.