Travel chaos as thousands of passengers hit by Eurostar and Southeastern cancellations due to tunnel flooding

30 December 2023, 08:35 | Updated: 30 December 2023, 10:41

All Eurostar and Southeastern trains have been cancelled due to tunnel flooding near Ebbsfleet International.

Southeastern Railway said no services were expected to run between St Pancras and Ashford International for the rest of the day.

Meanwhile, Eurostar cancelled all services to and from St Pancras until the end of the day.

It said: "Trains have been cancelled today due to part of the track being temporarily closed near London.

"We apologise for the impact to travel today."

Customers shared their fury online after arriving at St Pancras to be told they would not be able to make their journey ahead of New Year's.

One person said she got up at 3.40am to get the Eurostar but was back home again before 7.30am due to the cancellations.

Another person tweeted: "No communication and no possibility to rebook! (Travelling from Paris to London)"

In an update posted on its website, Eurostar said passengers could either reschedule their bookings free of charge or cancel and receive a credit note or refund.

A spokesperson said: "Eurostar services to and from London are being cancelled and there are severe delays to services due to infrastructure issues caused by flooding in one of the Thames tunnels located between St Pancras International and Ebbsfleet.

"Eurostar is working with Network Rail to keep customers updated. The safety and security of our customers are of the highest importance to us."

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Meanwhile, Thameslink said its service would be affected by staff shortages. It told passengers to expect delays throughout Saturday and cancellations on Sunday.

Windy conditions will sweep across the UK on Saturday, according to the Met Office, with northern areas of Scotland likely to see "significant snow".

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said "a touch of frost is likely" overnight into Saturday and there is a deep area of low pressure waiting out in the Atlantic that is going to sweep its way across the UK this weekend.

"Towards the far east of Scotland, particularly Shetland, it is going to be a windy picture with frequent showers," he said.

Some frost is "possible" in the south, particularly towards the east, while "a more widespread harsh frost" is expected in some parts of Scotland.

Temperatures could tumble "as low as minus 8C or minus 9, perhaps a little bit colder than that," he added.

Some heavy rain is also likely across the west of Northern Ireland on Saturday morning before wet and windy conditions push east and north eastwards.

Mr Burkill added: "As that rain hits the cold air across Scotland, I am expecting some significant snow, particularly over higher ground we could see in excess of 10cm of snow lying and, even to lower levels, some slushy snow is possible. This could cause some problems particularly on the roads.

"Elsewhere it is the rain and the strong winds we need to watch out for.

"Heavy rain across parts of Wales and strong gales likely around southern, south-western coastal parts in particular - so a pretty unsettled day."

Mr Burkill said: "In the south it is going to be relatively mild with highs of around 11C or 12C but with the wind, the rain and the cloud it will be feeling feel pretty unpleasant at times and colder further north, with temperatures here suppressed into mid-single figures.

"Later on Saturday we are going to see the rain and the snow across Scotland, or at least the worst of it, clearing away towards the north east and also that band of rain further south pushing eastwards across parts of England could still be pretty heavy at times - so watch out for that."