Weather Chaos (22/05)

[sonic2009]

Seems to me like the weather over the past few hours has caused a few problems.

• Trains between Birmingham and Walsall & Lichfield are currently suspended due to a tree in contact with the overhead wires.

https://twitter.com/LondonMidland/status/469486878958575616

• Delays at Bletchley of up to 20mins due to Flooding, also a broken down train at Cheddington.

https://twitter.com/LondonMidland/status/469472455334309888

• Delays between London Waterloo and Richmond due to tree on the line at Mortlake, the same also applies to trains between Sutton & Epsom because of a tree on the line at Cheam.

• No trains between Motspur Park and Chessington South also due to a tree on the line

 

[The Planner]

The tree at Aston is already sorted apparently and the power is back on. The flooding at Bletchley is on the DF and at the bottom of the railhead with a 5mph ESR last I heard.

 

[LewFinnis]

It must have been quite a storm that hit west London. Flights into Heathrow were delayed with some stacking out over the North Sea!

 

[DarloRich]

The tree at Aston is already sorted apparently and the power is back on. The flooding at Bletchley is on the DF and at the bottom of the railhead with a 5mph ESR last I heard.

Flash flood?

I can well imagine it with the volume of rain we have had in MK this afternoon

 

[user15681]

The one at Mortlake was fairly small and the one at Malden Manor on the Chessington branch was slightly bigger and got hit. Both removed now.

Reminds me of the very brief storm we had across the south east back at the end of January. The winds and rain were horrific, but lasted no more than 15 minutes. More than 20 units hit trees across Kent, Sussex and Wessex then, with 10 other locations where units avoided hitting trees. Amazing how powerful some storms can be, despite how brief they are.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Flash flood?

I can well imagine it with the volume of rain we have had in MK this afternoon

most of it seemed to land on me

 

[ollyrogers]

It must have been quite a storm that hit west London. Flights into Heathrow were delayed with some stacking out over the North Sea!

Yeah we had a solid 30-45 minutes of wind, lashing rain and lightning storms here in Brentford. Wouldn't know it now though, the pavements are drying quick

 

[stut]

Heavy rain always has that kind of effect at Heathrow at this time of day. There's an aircraft movement every 90 seconds on two of the runways, but this has to be increased in poor weather - with that kind of volume, there's no slack, so the delays stack up really quickly. Then the domestics get cancelled, the evening flights risk overrunning the curfew, etc, etc.

 

[hassaanhc]

I was on a bus in East London when it happened, the worst of it didn't last more than 5 minutes and only saw one lightning flash. So it is quite a surprise to hear it was very bad over west where I'll be heading later :P. Roads and pavements mostly dry now with the sun out for a while!

That January 25 storm I was on a train at the time (1630 Waterloo-Portsmouth Harbour) and got caught up in disruption on the Portsmouth Direct Line, it didn't seem too bad when it actually happened because it was dark by then.

 

[wensley]

Also issued on the ECML at Offord with a tree falling onto the return conductor on the Up Slow, line was blocked for a time with traffic on the Up Fast also cautioned for a period.

 

[Jona26]

The one at Mortlake was fairly small and the one at Malden Manor on the Chessington branch was slightly bigger and got hit. Both removed now.

Reminds me of the very brief storm we had across the south east back at the end of January. The winds and rain were horrific, but lasted no more than 15 minutes. More than 20 units hit trees across Kent, Sussex and Wessex then, with 10 other locations where units avoided hitting trees. Amazing how powerful some storms can be, despite how brief they are.

The tree or the line?

 

[MK Tom]

Northampton got absolutely clobbered with rain around 3PM, which naturally brought the completely useless bus station to a standstill. Not to mention the thunderous roar from the rain hitting the glass roof, which was louder than the actual thunder.

If anyone has a photo of the flooding at Bletchley I'd like to see that.