Bad weather causes delays on train route to Glasgow Cop26 talks

October 31, 2021 Ava

A fallen tree on the west coast mainline has blocked travel routes for delegates heading to Cop26 in Glasgow, including the environment minister Zac Goldsmith, after stormy weather swept through the UK bringing suspected tornadoes to parts of the country.

Avanti West Coast warned of delays, cancellations and diversions to services on Sunday after an object fell on power lines between Rugby and Milton Keynes Central.

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It said a train carrying dozens of delegates to the climate summit in Glasgow would need to be evacuated. It was being held at Milton Keynes and several scientists, journalists and government officials including Lord Goldsmith were onboard.

Gusts of more than 60mph were recorded overnight after an area of low pressure from the Atlantic brought stormy weather. Yellow weather warnings for wind and rain are in place across the west of the country.

The Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said he could not confirm that parts of the country had seen tornadoes overnight but he could not rule it out.

“We’ve got a deep Atlantic area of low pressure that’s bringing a very heavy band of rain and squalling winds across the whole of the country, but particularly in the south of England,” he said.

“We’ve seen some very strong gusts of wind on the south coast … and a few reports of damage from the winds. It’s not out of the question that there will have been some localised, brief funnel clouds or tornadoes. In the last couple of days we have seen some reports and seen some photos of funnel clouds and water spouts, which are similar to tornadoes.”

Tornadoes occur when funnel clouds extend from the cloud base to ground, Morgan said. He added that wind speeds of 87mph were recorded at an exposed location on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, and there were gusts of 60mph across Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and Sussex.

Source: Thanks msn.com