Storm Henk: Trains disrupted, hundreds of flood warnings in England

A statement said: “Services on other lines may be cancelled, delayed, or revised. Greater Anglia and Network Rail will be working overnight to restore services and minimise disruption on Wednesday 3 January.”

They are experiencing severe delays in Norwich, Colchester, Peterborough and Cambridge.

A joint statement from South Western Railway and Network Rail on X, formerly Twitter, said on Wednesday morning that disruptions linked to the storm will continue throughout the day.

“We are very sorry for the disruption customers experienced yesterday, due to the serious and widespread impact of Storm Henk,” the statement said.

“The severe winds led to trees on the line damaging or delaying trains in multiple locations across our network.”

READ MORE: High winds and snow for Shetland as Storm Henk sweeps north

Great Northern Rail said on X that services would be delayed from Cambridge to Ely and Kings Lynn until 10am on Wednesday as they work to repair damaged overhead wires and remove a damaged train.

Southern Rail also said delays were expected on Wednesday with repairs ongoing between Uckfield, Buxted and Crowborough.

Thameslink said services are back to normal after disruptions on Tuesday.

The Environment Agency said there were 368 active alerts in England for possible flooding, 322 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected and, in Northampton, one danger to life severe flood warning.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue said they have received 140 flood related calls in the last 24 hours, the majority of which came in the southern end of the county.

Meanwhile, Leicestershire Police said a large number of homes are being affected by flooding in Loughborough, with police closing Belton Road from the junction of Jubilee Drive to Meadow Lane and A426 Lutterworth Road from Little Glen Road To Leicester Road Roundabout in Blaby.

The majority of the flood warnings are covering the central part of England, in Birmingham, Leicester and Northampton.

READ MORE: Scotland weather — From Hottest June to Storm Babet

In Wales there was one severe flood warning, 15 flood warnings and 39 flood alerts, according to Natural Resources Wales.

Storm Henk battered large parts of southern England, the Midlands, East Anglia and Wales throughout Tuesday.

A woman was injured by a falling tree as gusts of up to 94mph hit in Orpington.

The Metropolitan Police were called at 3.14pm on Tuesday to reports that a woman had been struck by a tree in Station Approach.

A force spokesman said: “Officers attended along with paramedics from the London Ambulance Service and the London Fire Brigade.

Drivers faced difficult driving conditions near Folkestone in Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA)

“The woman was taken to hospital. Her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

“Her family has been informed.”

The strongest gales were recorded at the Needles Old Battery in the Isle of Wight, where wind speeds reached 94mph.

Gusts of 81mph were reached at Exeter Airport in Devon, and top winds hit 71mph at the Isle of Portland in Dorset and also at Mumbles Head in Glamorgan.

The Energy Networks Association – which collates data from all energy providers – estimated that 38,000 customers were without power as a direct result of storm damage, as of 7pm on Tuesday.

Stefan Laeger, the Environment Agency’s flood duty manager, said that the heavy rainfall means “significant local flooding” on the River Nene, in the east of England, is “probable” until Thursday.

He said: “Recent and ongoing heavy rain is falling on already very wet ground and could see some riverside locations across England flood until Thursday, while surface water flooding is also possible at times during the next five days in parts of the country.

“Environment Agency teams will be out on the ground, working to minimise the impacts of flooding where possible. We advise people to stay away from swollen rivers and urge people not to drive through flood water as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move car.”

A tree blown over by the wind in Tooting, south-west London (Richard Wheeler/PA)

Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service was called out to The Ford in Kenilworth to rescue a motorist who got stuck trying to drive through flood water.

A spokesman said: “Due to the speed of the flowing water we used our inflatable sled to safely rescue the car’s occupants. Please avoid the area and don’t try to drive through flood water.”

In Greenwich, south-east London, a large panel of scaffolding fell from either side of a building on Creek Road due to the heavy winds.

Marketing manager Josh Hargreaves, 30, told the PA news agency that he and his boyfriend had watched the scaffolding “pretty much swaying in the wind” before falling from the front of the building at around 3.40pm.

Then, an hour later, scaffolding fell from the back of the building as well.