Travellers have been hit with major delays and hazardous conditions on their way home from Christmas breaks as Storm Gerrit sweeps across the country.
Wind gusts of 80mph and heavy rain have caused delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport on one of the year's busiest travel days.
Yellow wind and rain warnings remained in place across much of the UK including south-east England on Wednesday, while snow has brought chaos to Scotland where a major incident was declared and thousands were without power.
The Met Office warned of disruption to road, rail, air and ferry transport as hundreds of thousands of people made their way home from trips to see loved ones.
Eighteen British Airways flights were cancelled to or from London's Heathrow Airport as air traffic control restrictions meant flights were axed.
They were return domestic trips to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Jersey and Manchester, and to Barcelona, Berlin, Madrid and Paris Charles de Gaulle in mainland Europe.
A British Airways spokesman said: "As a result of air traffic control restrictions put in place because of Storm Gerrit, we have had to make some adjustments to our schedule today.
"We have apologised to our customers for any disruption to their travel plans and our teams are working hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible."
Train operator LNER advised customers not to travel due to the severe weather on its services from London King's Cross to the north of England and Scotland.
Posting on X, the company said: "Services are likely to be subject to significant delays and short notice alterations or cancellations.
"Customers stranded in today's disruption can book hotels and claim this back."
The problems brought on by the storm have come on top of delays at the Port of Dover where ferry passengers suffered severe delays because of staff sickness among French border officials.
People arriving for cross-Channel sailings were forced to wait as long as three hours to pass through French checks due to increased processing times.
Wait times had returned to normal by Wednesday evening.
Services at the southern end of the line between St Albans and London St Pancras were affected by a fault with the signalling system.
National Rail has said major disruption is expected between St Albans and London St Pancras until 10am on Thursday.
Overrunning engineering work also caused misery for many Southeastern customers.
Thousands of airline passengers risked missing flights, as East Midlands Railway said the signalling issue was preventing it from running services between London St Pancras and Luton Airport.
Thameslink services to and from the airport were also affected, with many trains cancelled or severely delayed.
A major incident was declared on the A9 in the Scottish Highlands on Wednesday as emergency services were scrambled.Heavy snow led to cars becoming stranded on parts of the road near Drumochter in the Highlands before snowploughs were able to start clearing a way through.
Some 27,000 properties were left without power and high winds and snow hit power lines, with network operator Scottish and Southern Energy Network (SSEN) Distribution having reconnected around 8,500 by 4.30pm on Wednesday. About 18,500 households remained cut off and SSEN said some could be without power until Friday.
In Fife, residents in Cupar were rescued from their homes after severe flooding in the town.Ferry operator Red Funnel, which provides services between Southampton and Cowes on the Isle of Wight, earlier warned customers to expect cancellations on its Red Jet passenger services due to strong winds.
Hovercraft services between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight were also suspended.
Network Rail Scotland imposed speed restrictions on Wednesday and travellers were urged to check for cancellations.
A tree fell on the line and caught fire near Dumbarton East Station in West Dunbartonshire, Network Rail Scotland said, closing the line in both directions.
According to the Environment Agency, 14 flood warnings - meaning flooding is expected - are active in England, up from five earlier on Wednesday, along with 151 lesser flood alerts.
Flooding between Lockerbie in Dumfries and Galloway and Carlisle in Cumbria means all lines are currently blocked, Network Rail said.
Avanti West Coast advised passengers not to attempt to travel north of Preston on Wednesday. Those with pre-booked tickets for travel between Preston and either Edinburgh or Glasgow can board trains on Thursday or Friday.
The M48 Severn Bridge in Gloucestershire is currently closed in both directions due to strong winds, National Highways said.
Drivers were advised to use the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge as an alternate route.
The A1M is currently closed northbound between J52 (Catterick, Richmond) and J53 (Scotch Corner) due to flooding from heavy rain in the area.
The RAC has warned drivers not to underestimate the dangers of high winds.
Spokesperson Simon Williams said: "While high-sided vehicles are most at risk of being blown off course, car drivers can also be affected when they pass lorries on the motorway and are suddenly hit by the full force of the wind on the other side.
"Keeping both hands on the wheel at all times is the best advice, along with watching other vehicles very carefully so as not to get caught out by any unexpected changes in course.
"Getting to motorways and major roads may also be more difficult. Drivers should reduce their speeds and be on the look-out for fallen branches, and even trees, along with other debris."
The RNLI urged those visiting the coast to exercise extreme caution, particularly along exposed cliffs, seafronts and piers.
In London, gusts of up to 40mph were forecast between late morning and mid-afternoon.
Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said the storm was named as a warning to people coming home after the Christmas holidays.
He said: “Due to the extent of the warnings that are being issued, it was deemed that a named storm would be a good idea because it will highlight to the public the risk associated, particularly as Wednesday is likely to be quite a busy day on the roads with people travelling back home from Christmas and things like that.”
A storm is named when it is deemed to have the potential to cause medium or high impacts on the UK and/or Ireland.
The Met Office and Met Eireann launched the scheme in 2015 to name storms as part of efforts to raise awareness of extreme weather events.
A yellow rain and snow warning remained in place on Wednesday evening across much of Scotland until 6am on Thursday.
A Yellow warning was also in place for Wales until 3am on Thursday.
Storm Gerrit may continue to disrupt some trains on Thursday but the majority of services will run as normal. Flights are also expected to take off as normal from London Heathrow and other airports.
