Storm Isha – live: UK under rare Met Office weather warning as ‘unusual’ winds bring danger to life

Every single area in the UK will be impacted by a Met Office issued weather warning today as Storm Isha wreaks havoc on the nation.

Here’s the Met Office’s official forecast for today:

Bands of heavy rain spreading across northern and western regions; dry during daylight hours further south and east. Winds increasing in strength for all as Storm Isha arrives. A mild day, but the feeling tempered by the strong winds.

Very windy for all overnight with extensive inland gales. Potential for damaging violent storm force winds across western and northern Scotland. Heavy rain spreading eastwards, clearing by dawn.

Travel correspondent Simon Calder says the picture for rail passengers across Great Britain is rapidly deteriorating.

LNER, which connects London King’s Cross with Yorkshire, northeast England and Scotland on the East Coast main line, says: “If you are travelling north of Edinburgh between 4pm on Sunday 21 January and 12 noon on Monday 22 January, you are advised not to travel.”

The train operator has lifted all ticket restrictions for Sunday. “Where possible, customers are encouraged to travel earlier in the day before the weather deteriorates,” says LNER.

“Customers travelling on Sunday 21 or Monday 22 January can defer travel up to and including Tuesday 23 January.”

Transport for Wales has cancelled all services between Llandudno and Blaneau Ffestiniog in North Wales, and between Shrewsbury and Swansea on the Heart of Wales line.

Rail replacement buses are being provided.

Besides the “do not travel” warnings on Avanti West Coast (all of Sunday) and ScotRail (outside the Central Belt on Sunday evening and Monday morning, many speed restrictions are being imposed.

East Midlands Railway says journey times between London, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield will be doubled due to speed restrictions from 6pm on Sunday until 7am on Monday.

South Western Railway is predicting disruption from noon on Sunday to noon on Monday, with possible knock-effects during the afternoon.

Southeastern has already cancelled some trains between Kent and London early on Monday morning so safety teams can check for debris on the tracks.

There are seven weather warnings in place across the UK today as Storm Isha begins to sweep across the country.

Two yellow warnings for rain came into place at 12am on Sunday and this will be followed by three more yellow warnings for rain and wind this afternoon.

Later, two rare amber ‘danger to life’ warnings comes into effect at 6pm on Sunday for southern Scotland, northern England, Wales, Northern Ireland and southerwestern England followed shortly by another amber warning for northern Scotland at 9pm.

Many Scottish trains have been cancelled on Sunday and Monday as rail passengers face travel chaos during Storm Isha

ScotRail says: “We will end services early from 7pm on Sunday night on all routes outside the Central Belt [between and around Edinburgh and Glasgow], as well as services to/from Fife, Borders, Maryhill, East Kilbride and Kilmarnock.

“A limited service will run on the remaining Central Belt lines, but journeys will take longer as trains will be limited to 40mph for safety reasons.

“Safety checks will need to be made to ensure there is no damage before services resume on Monday along the affected routes.

LNER, which runs trains on the East Coast main line from London to and from northern Scotland, says: “If you are travelling north of Edinburgh between 4pm on Sunday 21 January and 12 noon on Monday 22 January, you are advised not to travel.”

The Port of Dover is warning: “Sea conditions in the Channel are very rough to high with a South Sou Westerly fresh gale, force 8.”

DFDS has already cancelled ferries between Newhaven and Dieppe on Sunday afternoon and evening “due to adverse weather”.

The ferry firm also says that some sailings between Dover and Calais are running an hour behind schedule.

On the Irish Sea, early ferries between Holyhead and Dublin are running 60 minutes late, and the Irish Ferries sailings on the route this afternoon and evening are cancelled.

In Scotland, Caledonian MacBrayne has cancelled all sailings between Oban and the Hebridean islands of Barra, Coll and Tiree for the rest of the day, as well as sailings from Mallaig to Skye and South Uist – and warns that Monday and Tuesday voyages could also be disrupted.

This is a one-off payment of £25 that is triggered for every seven-day period where the temperature in a certain area is at or below zero degrees.

Avanti West Coast, which runs trains on the line connecting London Euston with the West Midlands, northwest England, North Wales and southern Scotland, has just warned against all travel today.

The rail firm says: “We strongly advise customers to do not travel unless absolutely necessary on Sunday 21 January.” “Customers booked to travel on Sunday 21 January can use their tickets to travel on Monday 22 January or Tuesday 23 January, or alternatively get a fee-free refund.”

TransPennine Express, the intercity rail firm for the north of England and southern Scotland, says it is advising against travel between Preston and February after 2pm and between Preston and Glasgow after 4pm.

“Services across the rest of the network are expected to be impacted, we strongly recommend you check before you travel and plan ahead,” the train operator says.

“Customers with tickets on Sunday 21 January for services to and from Manchester, Liverpool, Preston to Carlisle, Glasgow and Edinburgh who choose not to travel can claim a full refund.”

Railway lines across Scotland will close early on Sunday after a weather warning was issued by the Met Office.

Network Rail announced that several lines will be out of use from 7pm on Sunday as Storm Isha brings severe conditions.

The Met Office has two yellow warnings in place for rain – with one in force in the south of Scotland and another which spans from Glasgow to just south of Fort William.

On Sunday, the rain warning will extend across the whole of Scotland. An amber wind warning will come into place at 9pm on Sunday and will remain in force until 9am on Monday.

Rail services will come to an early stop on all routes outside the central belt, along with Fife, the Scottish Borders, Maryhill, East Kilbride and Kilmarnock lines.

Other services in the central belt will run on a reduced timetable and passengers can expect longer journey times, as trains will be limited to 40mph.

The railway operator advised commuters to check their journey with National Rail Enquiries.

Liam Sumpter, Network Rail Scotland route director, said: “Our priority is the safety of our passengers and colleagues and that is why we have taken the decision to close some parts of our network early on Sunday night as the worst of Storm Isha hits the country.

“Our engineers will also need to thoroughly inspect the network for any damage before we reopen the lines and restart train services on Monday morning.

“Weather specialists, based in our control room, will monitor conditions closely throughout the weekend and our teams on the ground will be ready to deal with any issues caused by the storm as quickly as possible.”

Storm Isha will bring high winds and heavy rain to parts of the country, England’s environment agency warned.

“Storm Isha is bringing high winds and heavy rain to parts of the country this weekend. Please stay safe and ensure you know how to prepare for flooding,” it said on X.

Storm Isha is set to batter “everybody” across the UK with wind and rain during a “rare” weather cycle, forecasters say.

“The main thing about this storm is it is very widespread across the whole of the UK.

“Quite often we see storms affecting the north west or the southern half of the UK, whereas this one, later today and into Monday, the whole of the UK is covered by a warning, which is relatively rare.

“In that nature it’s a very widespread storm and it’s going to be affecting everybody. Heavy rain will affect everybody, those strong winds will affect everybody.

“That’s the main difference to previous storms we have seen.”