If you’re hoping to get to Stansted Airport this weekend, you may have to find alternative means thanks to Storm Boelo.
Stormy weather disrupted Stansted Express services today, with a ‘do not travel’ warning issued.
Yesterday evening, Greater Anglia said a tree had fallen onto the tracks near Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex, impacting the wires overhead.
Network Rail response teams were sent to investigate the issue while services were either cancelled, delayed, or revised.
Blocked lines soon began affecting Greater Anglia services between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge North, Hertford East, Ely, and Bishop’s Stortford.
Then, in a post shared on X this morning, Greater Anglia confirmed that the damage caused by the tree had not been repaired, advising people to avoid travel for the remainder of Saturday.
‘After a tree fell and blocked the railway in the Stansted Mountfitchet area yesterday, the overhead electric wires have been damaged,’ it read.
‘Network Rail response teams are on site and have found that there is extensive damage to the overhead electrical lines that provide power to the trains.
‘Work to fix the overhead electrical lines is estimated to take all day today. The line between Bishops Stortford and Stansted Airport / Audley End will be blocked whilst this work takes place.’
As expected, this is far from the only train line disruption this weekend, as wind and rain batter the UK.
Avanti West Coast has encouraged travellers to check timetables before embarking on their routes and to avoid journeys north of Preston on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Great Western Railway has been running replacement coach services between Okehampton and Exeter St Davids, Barnstaple and Exeter St Davids, and between Par and Newquay.
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Long-distance services to Devon and Cornwall will only operate between Reading and Plymouth.
The chaos began thanks to Storm Austen yesterday.
Shortly after 1.10pm, a freight container train travelling from London Gateway partly derailed at Barking, causing ‘significant disruption’ and blocking platforms.
It was confirmed that there weren’t any passengers on board at the time, and no injuries were reported.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch was notified and deployed to the site.
National Rail quickly warned that back-to-back storms Austen and Boelo would likely affect journeys across the whole weekend.
More than 15,000 homes were left without power in the wake of Storm Austen as its 80mph gusts ravaged southern England and Wales.
Additionally, London’s Stansted Airport confirmed to Metro that a technical issue meant its track transit people mover system was unavailable.
While a coaching contingency service was implemented, demand has remained high during the ‘busy period’.
Travellers were warned that their journeys could ‘take longer than would normally be expected’.
A spokesperson added that engineers have been ‘working hard to restore the service as soon as possible’ as the outage continued into the night.
‘Engineers are working hard to restore the service as soon as possible, while additional staff have been deployed to help keep passengers informed and assist managing queues,’ they said.
‘We apologise to passengers for any inconvenience and disruption this issue may have caused to their journeys through the airport.’
Taking to social media, the likes of @GroundhopperGr1 shared snaps of the chaos, with a crowd of arrivals stuck in a queue.
He wrote: ‘Absolute shambles at @STN_Airport. The shuttle from plane to terminals conked out this morning and there is no contingency other than a bus which cant cope with the ever-growing backlog. We have spent longer in this queue than the flight. No water, no toilets no updates.’
Safety concerns also meant schools in Jersey and Guernsey closed for the day, as did some in Cornwall.
What’s more, ferry services between the UK and France were cancelled, and fresh food shortages on the Channel Islands are expected in the coming days due to the lack of ferries.
Having been forecast to bring stronger winds and heavy rain today, Storm Boelo lived up to expectations.
Winds will be the most intense this evening and then extend eastwards through Sunday.
The Met Office has put an amber warning in place in parts of Scotland, northern England, and Northern Ireland.
It said there’s a ‘good chance’ of power cuts and has warned people about flying debris and damage to buildings.
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