Storm Noa: London buffeted by strong winds amid Met Office …
There was Overground disruption (Transport for London) London[1] has been hit with strong winds as Storm Noa arrives, with some rail services affected by travel disruption. Met Office[2] forecasters have put in place a yellow weather[3] warning for wind[4] affecting swathes of south-west and south-east England.
The Met Office has warned of potential short-term losses of power and disruption to road and ferry travel in the affected areas, which include some popular London commuter areas such as Guildford and Dorking. As of 3pm, the capital was being buffeted by wind speeds of up to 48mph. Among the disruption was delays on the London Overground between Euston and Willesden Junction because of a fallen tree on the tracks.
In a message to customers, South Western Rail said that disruption was possible on its network because of weather conditions, including on routes such as Kingston/Shepperton and Chessington/Epsom. In a message to one affected customer, it said that trains between Waterloo and Weymouth were being impacted by wind. “I regret to inform you that due to the speed restrictions in place because of strong winds,” it said.
“All London Waterloo to Weymouth services are running fast to minimise the impact to further delays to mainline services.” The Royal Parks said it had closed parts of Greenwich Park in south London over “high winds”, saying the playground and Flower Garden were not open to the public. Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon earlier said: “There’s likely to be some warning updates from us of winds with some associated rain throughout the day with gusts up to 60-70mph this morning and some heavy rains accompanying.
“Coastal areas, particularly Devon and Cornwall, are likely to see the worst of this with potential short-term losses of power and disruption to travel. “This is a low-pressure system that is building in from the west and is set to get worse throughout the course of the day.” On Wednesday morning, travel problems had hit the road and rail network in south Wales.
Major motorways including two sections of the M4 in Wales as well as the M48 Severn Bridge were closed, with National Highways reporting gusts of 68mph.
Mr Dixon added that forecasters expect winds to decrease throughout Thursday, with some showers.
Although the weather is a named storm in France, it is not classed as such by the Met Office.