that was simon calder at waterloo station.oads have been affected from rac spokesperson simon williams. the impact of the storm on drivers isn't too bad in many ways, because lots of drivers are heeding the warnings and not venturing out. and of course, that's the thing to do in this kind of situation. 0nly drive if it's absolutely essential. and obviously, from an rac point of view, we normally do around kind of 7000 plus breakdowns a day in the week, but the weekends tend to be quieter anyway because of a lack of commuter traffic and business traffic. and of course, many sporting events and other events have been cancelled and people are rightly staying at home. so we will probably have a slower day today in many ways in terms of breakdowns. but of course our teams are out there in all conditions ready to help should anyone have a problem. this will take some clearing up. it's obviously a major storm and lots of trees down. i'm just outside bristol. it's been extremely windy here. there are reports locally of trees down. we

and the travel expert simon calder says the disruption is expected to continue for the rest of the day rest of the da . . , continue for the rest of the da . ., , , , ., day. the airlines, despite all their best — day. the airlines, despite all their best efforts _ day. the airlines, despite all their best efforts last - day. the airlines, despite all their best efforts last night, | their best efforts last night, will be — their best efforts last night, will be faced with a big problem this morning that their planes — problem this morning that their planes and their pilots aren't necessarily the right place to start — necessarily the right place to start getting people they need to be — start getting people they need to be. so i'm afraid disruption could — to be. so i'm afraid disruption could continue all day and if fo- could continue all day and if fog remains then that is going to be — fog remains then that is going to be very disruptive for tens of thousands of passengers. well, — of thousands of passengers. well, it— of thousands of passengers. well, it is notjust gatwick airport

traveljournalist simon calder says the delays have impacted thousands of people.beth line, which was one of the lies affected earlier. it was actually unaffected by talkative passages and stuff coming out from heathrow early this morning, they found that they had passengers struck trains had been cancelled because of communications. here in london patenting and through the west of england and south of wales, got lots and lots of great trains, of trains in weston—super—mare, a large from swansea and cardiff, on a day like this, when lots of people are making long distance journeys, it is a real worry. —— here in london paddington. every day, emergency service phone operators across the uk answer tens of thousands of calls for help. while most callers are respectful, reports of sexist, homophobic and racist abuse towards staff have increased by more than a third since 2019. our reporter daniel 0 donoghue has been speaking to operators at a 999 call centre in manchester. you want to do this, you really want to do this, stupid bleep? yeah, i've got questions to ask, s

simon calder is travel correspondent for the independent. london waterloo station, following the disruptions on the railways. if you are hoping to travel to portsmouth harbour on the 1130 that has not yet left. it is over half an hour late. they are dealing with problems including fallen problems including fallen trees on large parts of the south—western rail network. major disruption, and warnings that i am seeing for all of the main lines from here, and if you go to the great western line, the network going to the west of england, to south wales and so on, that is also having extreme problems because of fallen trees and speed restrictions, and there is nothing going west of cardiff towards swansea and carmarthen or west of plymouth towards penzance. no trains at all all day on those networks. north wales, nothing running on the line from chester to holyhead, but if you did manage to get to holyhead, it wouldn't do you much good, if you were aiming for ireland because there are no ferries sailing today as far as i can see, anywhere on the i

simon calder is travel correspondent for the independent. he's at london bridge train station.e is on the railways. disruption there is on the railways-_ disruption there is on the railwa s. �* ., , railways. almost anywhere in the country — railways. almost anywhere in the country that _ railways. almost anywhere in the country that you - railways. almost anywhere in the country that you would i railways. almost anywhere in i the country that you would want to point me to, i could find you some disruption. here at london bridge, there was a fallen tree in the elton which has now been removed, but there are fallen trees across the country and in particular there are problems with the thames link line running from here towards bedford via luton airport. the line is closed at harpenden. similarly in the opposite direction between horsham and arran doll. looking further north between cambridge and king's lynn, there is a speed restriction in place really slowing things down. a have cancelled the direct trains from london and there is now a shuttle service from cambridge and across

simon calder is travel correspondent for the independent. he's at london waterloo station. disruptions? exactly because he was saying, it's causing major problems right across the nation. if it can start here at london waterloo, this major disruption morning for the whole south—western railway network on the main lines to portsmouth and also to southampton, bournemouth and weymouth, fallen trees causing lots of problems here. moving across to the great western region and that is in and out of london paddington serving the west of england and also south wales. very, very difficult morning, nothing going west of penzance, nothing going west of penzance, nothing going west of cardiff to swansea and carmarthen and all the devon and cornwall branch lines are also closed. the other problem is speed restrictions, but if you're going by train to date there is a very good chance there will be speed restrictions put in because of the risk of daybreak being on the lines of fallen trees. that means for the line from bristol into london, you've got delays typically of 45 minutes because

so if you are flying today, good luck. >> simon calder there speaking to us earlier. well boost growth or get out of the way. that is the message from sir keir starmer to uk regulators. the prime minister, the chancellor and business secretary have all asked watchdogs , including ofgem asked watchdogs, including ofgem and ofwat, to propose pro—growth reforms by mid january. it follows figures that show the uk economy flatlined between july and september. labour, though, says it is pulling every lever to deliver the highest sustained economic growth in the g7. but the conservatives blame the government's policies for stalling progress. gb news can reveal today that 1300 migrants have now crossed the english channel since christmas day, as hundreds more crossed today. it comes as the home office confirmed 305 people arrived yesterday in five small boats. shadow home secretary chris philp has blamed sir keir starmer for scrapping conservative measures like the rwanda plan, saying that labour's approach is an insult to the british people. the prime minister, though, has p

and the travel expert simon calder says the disruption is expected to continue for the rest of the day faced with a big problem this morning that their planes and their pilots aren't necessarily the right place to start getting people they need to be. so i'm afraid disruption could continue all day and if fog remains then that is going to be very disruptive for tens of thousands of passengers. well, it is notjust gatwick airport having problems. heathrow airport cancelled 20 flights before eight o'clock this morning and a significant number of more flights have been cancelled there, and there are delays at birmingham airport, london city airport and manchester as well. the uk air traffic controller says temporary air traffic restrictions remain in place because of the low viz ability and it said the restrictions of that kind up only ever applied to maintain safety. it said it is in contact with all the airports and airlines to try and win disruption. ——and airlines to try and minimise disruption. the advice for travellers today, though, is to check with their airline before travelling

let's speak to transport correspondent for the independent simon calder, who's been keeping a close eyevel. how is it looking and where are you at the moment? i how is it looking and where are you at the moment?— you at the moment? i am in beautiful— you at the moment? i am in beautiful vienna _ you at the moment? i am in beautiful vienna austria. . you at the moment? i am in beautiful vienna austria. i l beautiful vienna austria. i fled the country yesterday, getting outjust in time before frantic friday, which is absolutely going to be the peak day of the winter at the airport and according to the motoring organisations, on the road, as well. if you haven't started off and you're thinking, oh will set off this afternoon, please stay in and watch the news channel and head off perhaps around six or seven tonight because it is going to be really, really busy on the roads. that's because you have for an awful lot of people at a normal commute which is going to merge with the start of the great getaway, so it's going to be very messy. tomorrow, snarl up be very messy. tomorrow, snarl up sa

let's speak to travel journalist simon calder, who is at paddington station in london. seeing nine different train lines many connecting to major airports. train lines many connecting to major airports-_ major airports. yes i am have come in _ major airports. yes i am have come in from _ major airports. yes i am have come in from heathrow - major airports. yes i am have l come in from heathrow airport on the elizabeth line, which is one of the lines that was affected earlier, that train was absolutely on time, but talking to some passengers and staff travelling tout heathrow earlier this morning they found they had trains cancelled or delayed for a long time because of communication problems, and here at london paddington, the hub for the west of england and south wales, we have got lots of delayed trains, the train from westen supermare came in late, delays from swansea via cardiff and on a day like this when people are making long distance journeys it is a real worry. distance “ourneys it is a real wor . , ., distance “ourneys it is a real wor . ,, ., ., ., worry. sim

so if you are flying today good luck. >> simon calder there speaking to us earlier.ll boost growth or get out of the way. that is the message from sir keir starmer to uk regulators. the prime minister, the chancellor and business secretary have all asked watchdogs, including ofgem and ofwat, to propose pro—growth reforms by mid—january. it follows figures that show the uk economy flatlined between july and september. labour, though, says it is pulling every lever to deliver the highest sustained economic growth in the g7. but the conservatives blame the government's policies for stalling progress. gb news can reveal today that 1300 migrants have now crossed the english channel since christmas day, as hundreds more crossed today. it comes as the home office confirmed 305 people arrived yesterday in five small boats. shadow home secretary chris philp has blamed sir keir starmer for scrapping conservative measures like the rwanda plan, saying that labour's approach is an insult to the british people. the prime minister, though, has promised to smash the gangs. but that

so if you are flying today, good luck. >> simon calder there speaking to us earlier. well boost growth or get out of the way. that is the message from sir keir starmer to uk regulators. the prime minister, the chancellor and business secretary have all asked watchdogs , including ofgem asked watchdogs, including ofgem and ofwat, to propose pro—growth reforms by mid january. it follows figures that show the uk economy flatlined between july and september. labour, though, says it is pulling every lever to deliver the highest sustained economic growth in the g7. but the conservatives blame the government's policies for stalling progress. gb news can reveal today that 1300 migrants have now crossed the english channel since christmas day, as hundreds more crossed today. it comes as the home office confirmed 305 people arrived yesterday in five small boats. shadow home secretary chris philp has blamed sir keir starmer for scrapping conservative measures like the rwanda plan, saying that labour's approach is an insult to the british people. the prime minister, though, has p

earlier, independent travel correspondent simon calder told gb news people must check before they travel>> we saw over 150 cancellations yesterday, 48 from gatwick to and from gatwick, 42 at london city airport, 40 at london heathrow plus some at manchester, luton and other airports. and on top of that, i'm afraid saturday hasn't begun brilliantly. british airways has cancelled 18 flights so far to and from heathrow, another four at gatwick. and there's cancellations also at london city. so if you are flying today, good luck. >> now a man has been charged with murder after the death of two women on christmas day. officers were called to reports of a stabbing at a block of apartments in santa cruz avenue in milton keynes , just after in milton keynes, just after 6:30 pm. thames valley police said 38 year old joanne pearson and 24 year old teona grant died at the scene. a man and a teenage boy suffered serious injuries in the incident. they are in a stable condition in hospital. police have since charged 49 year old gisele brown of santa cruz avenue, and he will appear at high wycombe magi

travel expert simon calder said the work was necessary for the railways to start turning themselves aroundnd stop taking £400 per second in taxpayer subsidy. >> they've got to attract new people in and if you're one of these occasional travellers and every time you look at it, it's christmas or easter or whatever, and there aren't any trains to your local station just looking up here, i can see the crew is off limits today, as is liverpool and chester. you're going to think, well, i'm not going to think, well, i'm not going to think, well, i'm not going to bother. i'm going to get in the car or indeed get one of the excellent long distance bus services. but they say the work has to be done. it will improve the system, make it more resilient and hopefully things will get rather better. >> well, sources have told the reuters news agency that russia's air defences were responsible for downing a passenger plane that crashed in kazakhstan, killing 38 people. the azerbaijan airlines plane crashed as it was diverting from an area of southern russia where moscow has repeatedly used air defence sys

travel expert simon calder said the work was necessary for the railways to start turning themselves around and stop taking £400 per second in taxpayer subsidy. >> they've got to attract new people in and if you're one of these occasional travellers and every time you look at it, it's christmas or easter or whatever, and there aren't any trains to your local station just looking up here, i can see the crew is off limits today, as is liverpool and chester. you're going to think, well, i'm not going to think, well, i'm not going to think, well, i'm not going to bother. i'm going to get in the car or indeed get one of the excellent long distance bus services. but they say the work has to be done. it will improve the system, make it more resilient and hopefully things will get rather better. >> the metropolitan police has charged a man with four counts of attempted murder. it comes after four pedestrians were hit by a car in the west end of london on christmas day. anthony ghilini has also been charged with causing serious injury by driving whilst disqualified, and for the possession of a blade

travel expert simon calder said the work was necessary for the railways to start turning themselves around and stop taking £400 per second in taxpayer subsidy. >> they've got to attract new people in and if you're one of these occasional travellers and every time you look at it, it's christmas or easter or whatever, and there aren't any trains to your local station just looking up here, i can see the crew is off limits today, as is liverpool and chester. you're going to think, well, i'm not going to think, well, i'm not going to think, well, i'm not going to bother. i'm going to get in the car or indeed get one of the excellent long distance bus services. but they say the work has to be done. it will improve the system, make it more resilient and hopefully things will get rather better. >> the metropolitan police has charged a man with four counts of attempted murder. it comes after four pedestrians were hit by a car in the west end of london on christmas day. anthony ghilini has also been charged with causing serious injury by driving whilst disqualified, and for the possession of a blade

earlier, independent travel correspondent simon calder told us that people need to check before theyravel. >> we saw over 150 cancellations yesterday, 48 from gatwick to and from gatwick, 42 at london city airport, 40 at london heathrow, plus some at manchester, luton and other airports. and on top of that, i'm afraid saturday hasn't begun brilliantly. british airways has cancelled 18 flights so far to and from heathrow, another four at gatwick. and there's cancellations also at london city. so if you are flying today, good luck. >> it's being reported that sir keir starmer has ordered britain's key watchdogs to remove barriers to growth in a bid to kick start the british economy. it's understood the prime minister has written to the uk's main watchdogs, asking them to come up with ideas for reform that could boost economic growth. he reportedly contacted the companies, including energy regulator ofgem and water regulator ofgem and water regulator ofwat, on christmas eve. a woman has been charged with murdering a father of six on christmas day in staffordshire. police were called to

earlier we spoke to simon calder, who's the independent travel correspondent. >> we saw over 150 cancellations yesterday, 48 from gatwick to and from gatwick, 42 at london city airport, 40 at london heathrow, plus some at manchester, luton and other airports. and on top of that, i'm afraid saturday hasn't begun brilliantly. british airways has cancelled 18 flights so far to and from heathrow, another four at gatwick. and there's cancellations also at london city. so if you are flying today, good luck. >> gb news can confirm that 1300 migrants have now crossed the engush migrants have now crossed the english channel since christmas day, as hundreds more made the journey today. it comes as the home office confirmed 305 arrived yesterday in five small boats. 407 made the illegal crossing on boxing day and 451 on christmas day. they take the total number who've arrived in the uk this year to 36,500. that's a 25% increase on last year's total. some breaking news now a woman has been charged with murdering a father of six on christmas day in staffordshire. police were called to a report of a man in