Storm Gerrit carnage as hundreds stuck at Preston Train Station after cancellations

All trains to Scotland have been cancelled due to high winds and continued heavy rainfall.

Urging people not to travel, Avanti West Coast said on their Twitter feed: “Do not travel north of Preston today (27 December).

“Continued heavy rainfall as a result of Storm Gerrit is expected for the remainder of the day.

“Customers with tickets for travel between Preston and Edinburgh/Glasgow can use those for travel on either 28 or 29 December.”

They added that due to high levels of contact, it may take longer to respond than usual.

With multiple yellow weather warnings issued by the Met Office for today and tomorrow, travellers making their way home from the Christmas holidays are bracing for delays and potentially dangerous conditions.

Today is forecast to be the worst affected day, with strong winds of up to 65mph in some areas whilst heavy rain is also forecast.

Electricity North West engineers will be on standby and emergency response plans have been stood up so teams can be ready to respond if the network is damaged.

Storm Gerrit is the fourth major weather incident Electricity North West has responded to this month and incident manager, Mark Mercer, said: “We’ve been monitoring the forecast daily and adapted our preparations to ensure we’re ready for when the bad weather hits.

"The key thing during a storm is to keep everybody safe. If you see any damaged equipment, then stay well clear as it could still be live. Call us on 105 and we will send engineers to make it safe, or if there’s a life-threatening situation call 999.”