Storm Debi causes travel chaos, with 50 British Airways flights cancelled and trains and ferries affected

Flooding and fallen trees have also caused havoc for rail passengers across England and Scotland

Storm Debi brought wind gusts of more than 70mph to parts of Britain and Ireland on Monday, disrupting travel and leaving more than 100,000 without power.

British Airways cancelled 50 flights to and from London Heathrow, while ferries and trains were also disrupted.

Gusts of 77mph were recorded in Gwynedd, 74mph at Killowen in Northern Ireland and 68mph on the Isle of Man as the low pressure system moved across the Irish Sea.

Yellow warnings for rain were also in place across much of Northern England and northern Wales, part of North East Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Some of the BA cancellations were to the hard-hit island of Ireland, in particular Dublin and Belfast City. Domestic departures to Aberdeen, Manchester and Newcastle were grounded, along with two flights each to Edinburgh and Glasgow. The return legs were also cancelled.

Many European services have been axed: Amsterdam, Billund, Brussels, Dublin, Luxembourg, Lyon, Milan, Marseille (2), Nice, Oslo, Prague, Rome, Stuttgart, Toulouse, Warsaw and Zurich.

A British Airways spokesperson told The Independent: “Like other airlines, we have had to make schedule adjustments due to the adverse weather conditions across the UK and Europe caused by Storm Debi. We’ve apologised to our customers for the disruption to their travel plans and our teams are working hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible.”

At Dublin airport, morning arrivals from New York on Aer Lingus and from Helsinki on Finnair were diverted to Shannon in the west of Ireland.

The Isle of Man’s airport has seen many cancellations, including Loganair to and from Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London City, London Heathrow and Manchester. An easyJet flight from Manchester to the island in the Irish Sea turned back after it made an unsuccessful attempt to land.

Irish Ferries cancelled a morning return sailing from Dublin to Holyhead in North Wales.

In the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, a trip between Barra and Oban was cancelled due to adverse weather.

On the railways, the Stansted Express service between the airport and London was cancelled for several hours because a fallen tree damaged the overhead wires at Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire.

Damage to overhead wires has also halted trains between Leeds and Wakefield Westgate. Passengers between Leeds and London are advised to travel via York. Rail replacement buses are running between Leeds and Doncaster, but journeys are likely to be extended by an hour.

The main rail line between Birmingham and Coventry has reopened after overhead wire problems, which halted all trains for a time.

Fallen trees are also causing disruption in at least three other locations: Bournemouth, Oxted in Surrey and Westerfield in Suffolk.

Rail passengers in Scotland are facing a wide range of issues, largely due to flooding.

The West Highland line from Glasgow to Oban and Mallaig via Fort William has flooded near Ardlui. Trains from Glasgow to Carlisle via Dumfries are also being delayed by flooding. Network Rail Scotland posted on Twitter/X: “The rainfall has reduced and residual water is flowing from the hillside onto the track.

“Staff are working to mitigate waterflow by digging a drainage channel. The good news is that the ballast has not been dislodged and track is stable.”

The line between Cupar and Leuchars has reopened, though trains still face delays of 30 minutes.