London weather: Capital hit by 50mph gusts as high winds wreak havoc

 
Blustery: A commuter walks along London Bridge on her way to work in high winds Picture: Jeremy Selwyn
Jeremy Selwyn
Sebastian Mann31 March 2015

London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos.

Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

This morning the QEII bridge of the Dartford Crossing was shut during rush hour causing tailbacks for miles in both directions as motorists were instead funnelled through the tunnel.

Elsewhere fallen trees delayed trains and disrupted journeys.

Trees on lines in the commuter belt areas of Watford and Guildford caused delays to London Midland and South West Trains services.

Disruption: a fallen tree on a line between St Albans and Watford (Picture: Network Rail)

In central London, police said they had also received reports of fallen trees.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">We have had reports of falling trees due to the wind. Please call our colleagues at RBKC on 0207 3613012 if you have concerns about trees.— KensingtonChelseaMPS (@MPSKenChel) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/MPSKenChel/status/582810658393186304" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-73871-https://twitter.com/MPSKenChel/status/582810658393186304" data-vars-event-id="c23">March 31, 2015</a>

And the RNLI, the charity behind Thames lifeboats, issued its own warning.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">Winds strong enough today to blow you off balance so keep that in mind if you are walking near the water.— Tower RNLI (@TowerRNLI) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/TowerRNLI/status/582819168942194690" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-73871-https://twitter.com/TowerRNLI/status/582819168942194690" data-vars-event-id="c23">March 31, 2015</a>

Heathrow Airport reported minor disruption caused by "challenging weather".

The Met Office issued its yellow weather alert today after gusts of up to 70mph hits parts of Britain overnight.

It said: "The public should be aware of the risk of localised damage from these winds and for minor disruption to travel."

Met forecaster Kirk Waite added: "While the winds should gradually ease, it's going to stay a pretty windy day."

"The north west of the country is going to see some quite blustery showers moving in - it's probably going to see the strongest winds today."

Forecasters warned gusts of up to 48mph would hit the capital today.

Windy London Bridge

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Strong winds on Sunday caused damage to the famous Father Time weather vane at Lord's cricket ground in north London, blowing it so it was parallel to the ground rather than upright.

A tree blocks a road in Wanstead on Sunday as gales caused travel problems in London (Picture: Twitter/@TfLTrafficNews)

In Wanstead a fallen tree caused disruption for motorists and put bus routes on diversion.

At 7am this morning, blustery conditions caused the suspension of the Emirates Air Line.

A Twitter account for the east London Thames crossing tweeted: "No service at present due to adverse weather conditions."

Additional reporting by PA

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