LONDON — Storm Ciara battered the U.K. and northern Europe with hurricane-force winds and heavy rains Sunday, halting flights and trains and producing heaving seas that closed down ports. Soccer games, farmers markets and cultural events were canceled as authorities urged millions of people to stay indoors, away from falling tree branches.
The storm, named by the U.K.’s Met Office weather agency, brought gales across the country and delivered gusts of 97 miles per hour to the Isle of White and 93 mph to the village of Aberdaron in northern Wales. Propelled by the fierce winds, a British Airways plane was thought to have made the fastest New York-to-London flight by a conventional airliner.
The Boeing 747-436 completed the 3,500-mile transatlantic journey in 4 hours and 56 minutes, landing 102 minutes early and reaching a top speed of 825 mph, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24. Two Virgin Airlines flights also roared across the Atlantic, with all three smashing the previous subsonic New York-to-London record of 5 hours and 13 minutes, Flightradar24 reported.
Storm surges ate away at beaches and pounded rock cliffs and cement docks. The Met Office issued more than 250 flood warnings, and public safety agencies urged people to avoid travel and the temptation to take selfies as floodwaters rose. Residents in the town of Appleby-in-Westmorland in northwest England battled to protect their homes amid severe flooding as the River Eden burst its banks.
At least 10 rail companies in Britain sent out “do not travel” warnings, while nearly 20 others told passengers to expect extensive delays. The strong winds damaged electrical wires and littered train tracks with broken tree limbs and other debris, including a family trampoline.
Huge crowds of stranded, frustrated travelers were seen at London’s King’s Cross and Euston train stations. Train crews planned to work all night to try to restore service, but Monday morning commutes were expected to be long and chaotic.
Dozens of flights were canceled at London airports due to heavy wind. Heathrow Airport and several airlines consolidated flights Sunday to reduce the number of cancellations. British Airways offered to rebook customers for domestic and European flights out of Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports. Virgin Airlines canceled some flights.
Lufthansa airlines said there would be numerous cancellations and delays beginning Sunday afternoon and running until at least Tuesday morning. The airline planned to keep operating long-haul flights at its main Frankfurt hub. Eurowings, a budget subsidiary of Lufthansa, canceled most flights for the duration of the storm.
Brussels Airport also saw delays or cancellations.
Two huge ports on either side of the English Channel, Dover in England and Calais in France, shut down operations amid high waves. Dover was partially reopened after being closed for 10 hours. Ferries stopped running there and across the region, including in the turbulent Irish Sea and North Sea.
The Humber Bridge in northern England also shut down, a move its website said was only the second time the massive bridge had been entirely closed.
Breaking with her usual Sunday routine, Queen Elizabeth II did not attend church in Sandringham to keep her out of harm’s way during the storm.
