Flights cancelled as Storm Doris hits UK

Storm Doris has embarked on its destructive path across Britain as flights are cancelled in the UK and Ireland.

London's Heathrow airport has announced a 10 per cent reduction in flights due to bad weather conditions brought on by a severe storm.

Parts of the United Kingdom were being battered by rain and winds of up to 144km/h as Storm Doris arrived.

Some 39 departures and 38 arrivals had so far been cancelled at Heathrow, one of Europe's busiest airports.

A spokesperson for Heathrow recommended that passengers consult their flights' status before travelling to the airport.

The Met Office, the UK's weather service, issued weather warnings for areas of northern England, East Anglia, northern Wales and the Midlands, as well as a snow alert for Scotland, where up to 15cm is expected to fall.

Disruptions are likely to affect road and rail travel, as well as ferry services.

Winds of up to 140 km/h were registered on the western Irish coast at Galway and 115 km/h in western Wales, according to the Met Office.

A total of 12 Aer Lingus flights between the UK and Ireland had to be cancelled due to the wind.

Network Rail warned of delays and cancellations to rail services over safety concerns.

Irish utility firm ESB Networks said Doris had caused some 770 faults in power networks around Dublin, leaving 56,000 customers without electricity.

"As the storm has still not reached its peak yet, we expect these numbers to increase," the company said.

Across the border in Northern Ireland, electricity provider NIE Networks said power had been cut to some 21,000 customers but engineers had repaired faults affecting 14,000 of them.


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Source: AAP


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