Man escapes with minor injuries after tree falls on car

A large tree has fallen on a car in Flitwick, Bedfordshire, as strong winds from Storm Ciara continued to batter the UK on Sunday.

Incredibly, the man in the car survived with minor injuries despite being trapped in the vehicle for over an hour.

Train services through Sutton have been suspended due to an unstable structure next to the line.

“The emergency services are on site and are dealing with the incident,” Thameslink said.

“The station will be closed until further notice.”

Storm Ciara causing chaos for travellers across the country

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder has more news from the chaos affecting passengers across the UK today.

About 300 arrivals and departures have been grounded at Heathrow airport amid reports of flooding and strong winds causing delays to train lines.

Dozens of flights to Luton airport have also been diverted because of crosswinds, mostly on Wizz Air, and some passengers who were supposed to land at Stansted and Gatwick have been diverted to Doncaster-Sheffield and Birmingham airports.

Here are some more images that show the scale of the problem facing railway operators today.

In Kent, they’ve been forced to work out how to remove a trampoline which made its way onto the line at Chelsfield.

Heavy flooding has been reported in North Yorkshire, where there is currently a number of flood warnings in place.

The Environment Agency had 115 flood warnings in place across Yorkshire, as of 12pm on Sunday.

Police receive report of escaped cow amid high volume of storm calls

North Yorkshire Police has said it has taken a high number of calls due to incidents related to Storm Ciara, including reports of flooded roads, fallen trees, a shed blowing into a street and an escaped cow.

The animal had apparently wandered onto the A59 near Harrogate, probably after fencing was damaged, the force said.

The cow was unharmed and found happily grazing on the grass verge.

“No corner of the county has escaped today's bad weather, and our Force Control Room and frontline officers have dealt with a large range and high volume of weather-related incidents,” a spokesperson for the force said.

“We're working closely with other organisations including North Yorkshire's Highways team to keep routes as clear as possible and divert motorists if absolutely necessary.”

Here are some more updates on the travel situation across the country

LNER has said Edinburgh Waverley station “is currently closed to new customers arriving due to overcrowding.”

“Tickets will be valid all day tomorrow,” the train operating company said.

Tree have also been blocking many rail lines, including Swindon to Cheltenham and York to Scarborough, according to our travel correspondent Simon Calder.

Meanwhile, on Southeastern railway, a number of lines have been disrupted by Storm Ciara.

The company has “strongly advised” passenger to not travel today.

“Incidents are affecting most of our network, there is significant disruption and you may not be able to complete your journey,” Southeastern said in a statement.

The Queen did not attend church in Sandringham on Sunday as a safety precaution due to high winds in the area, according to the Press Association.

Meanwhile in West Yorkshire, flood sirens have been set off to warn of danger from the storm.

Storm Ciara causes BBC One to go off air

BBC One temporarily went off air just after 11am this morning due to technical issues caused by Storm Ciara.

“Stormy conditions” forced the channel to go down for about 10 minutes as the connection with the BBC’s Salford studio in Greater Manchester was interrupted.

“It seems that the stormy conditions up in Salford are causing us some problems. We are working as hard as we can against the weather to get back to The Big Questions and Nicky [Campbell] in Salford as quickly as we can,” a BBC announcer said.

You can find the full details on the story below:

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder has a report on the tens of thousands of airline passengers who have been hit by cancellations due to Storm Ciara.
 

The Independent’s travel desk has calculated at least 25,000 passengers will have been affected by cancellations as Heathrow airport has reduced its schedule due to strong winds.

“Like all airlines operating in to and out of the UK tomorrow, we will be affected by Storm Ciara,” British Airways has said.

“Safety is at the heart of everything we do, so we’re merging a number of flights to avoid operating when the winds are at their strongest.”

North Yorkshire Police said they also received a call reporting "a shed that had blown onto a road and blocked it".

"It's been a busy night responding to flooding incidents along with a flood rescue this morning," South Shore Fire Station tweeted.

"Thankfully, our flood rescue hero's Richard and Katherine were happy to get wet."

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is warning people to be careful around the coast during Storm Ciara as gusts over 80mph bring large waves up.

Guy Addington, Regional Water Safety Lead at the RNLI said: “This rough weather could make visiting our coasts around the UK and Ireland treacherous and bring very dangerous sea conditions.

“Sadly, around 150 people accidentally lose their lives around UK and Irish waters each year and over half of these people didn’t plan on ever entering the water.

“Slips, trips and falls can be a major factor in these kinds of incidents. If you see someone else in danger in the water, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard. If you have something that floats that they can hold on to, throw it to them. 

“Don’t go in the water yourself — too many people drown trying to save others."