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divdiv class=story-body readability=37 span class=story-date#13; span class=date28 October 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time01:38 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; !-- Embedding the video player --#13;!-- This is the embedded player component --#13;#13;#13; #13; #13;#13;#13;#13;!-- wwrights check --#13;!-- Empty country is used on test environment --#13;#13;#13;#13;div class=videoInStoryB readability=2#13; div id=emp-24700001-145434 class=emp#13; #13; #13; noscript#13; div class=warning readability=1#13; img class=holding src=http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70746000/jpg/_70746540_70746539.jpg alt=Road closed sign/pstrongPlease turn on JavaScript./strong Media requires JavaScript to play./p#13; /div#13; /noscript#13; #13; !-- embedding script --#13; #13; /div#13; !-- companion banner -- #13; #13; #13; #13; !-- END - companion banner --!-- caption --p class=captionPeople in parts of the UK are waking up to travel chaos, as Jon Ironmonger reports/p#13; !-- END - caption --#13; #13; #13;#13;/div#13;!-- end of the embedded player component --#13;#13;!-- Player embedded -- #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1Rail services across much of southern Britain have been cancelled for the morning rush hour as a storm continues to batter parts of England and Wales. /p#13; pWestern Power said 7,000 properties are without power in the South West area./p#13; pBoth Severn crossings, the M4 and the M48, between South Wales and England have been closed, while 60 flights have been cancelled at Heathrow airport. /p#13; pThe Met Office said a gust of 99mph (159km/h) was recorded at Needles Old Battery, Isle of Wight, at 05:00 GMT./p#13; pMeanwhile the a href=http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/34678.aspx?type=Regionamp;term=Southwestamp;Severi ty=2Environment Agency has issued 18 flood warnings - all in south west England -/a and 146 flood alerts across England and Wales. /p#13; pRobin Gisby, network operations managing director for Network Rail, said commuters should expect considerable disruption on Monday morning. /p#13; pThis will impact up to Birmingham and up to Nottingham and the Midlands. If we get through this in the morning, restore the service during the afternoon and are able to start up a good service on Tuesday morning, in the circumstances I'll be pretty pleased, he said. /p#13; pOther travel warnings include:/p#13; ulli South West Trains have advised people not to travel on Monday with most services not running until at least 08:00 GMT to allow Network Rail to check lines. A reduced timetable will be in operation, with some trains limited to speeds of 50mph /li#13; li East Coast will operate a revised emergency timetable on Monday, with trains stopping at Peterborough until 10:00 GMT, and limited to speeds of 50mph afterwards/li#13; li First Great Western and Virgin West Coast main line are also running an amended service until 10:00 GMT and 09:00 GMT respectively. First Great Western has suspended the service between Guildford and Gatwick Airport. Virgin West Coast said journey times may be extended by up to 70 minutes/li#13; li First Capital Connect and C2C said services are unlikely to begin until 09:00 GMT. Greater Anglia, Southern, Stansted Express and Gatwick Express have also said services will not run until after 09:00 GMT/li#13; li London Overground will not run a service on Monday before 09:00 GMT, while Southeastern said services might not start until 09:00 or 10:00 GMT, and then with an amended timetable/li#13; li Airports including Heathrow and Gatwick are warning of possible disruption to flights, advising passengers to check with a href=http://www.heathrowairport.com/help/contact-us/airline-contactsairlines /a/li#13; li Thirty flights in and out of Heathrow are being cancelled between 06:00 GMT and 11:00 GMT, 20 between 11:00 GMT and 16:00 GMT, and 10 from 16:00 to 22:30 GMT. It is not yet clear how many of those will be short-haul or long-haul flights/li#13; li EasyJet has warned passengers there could be disruption to flights on Monday. It said no trains would run to Gatwick, Southend, Stansted or Luton airports before 09:00 GMT/li#13; li Eurostar said it will not be running cross-Channel rail services on Monday until 07:00 GMT, with services from London subject to 20-minute delays/li#13; li Several ferry companies have also cancelled services, including some English Channel and Irish Sea crossings/li#13; li The A249 Sheppey Crossing in Kent and the Queen Elizabeth II bridge on the M25 are closed. The Tamar Bridge which joins Cornwall and Devon has reopened/li#13; li While both Severn crossings are closed diversions will be in place via the A449, A40, M50 and M5/li#13; li The a href=http://www.highways.gov.uk/news/breaking-news#2Highways Agency is advising motorists to check the weather forecast and road conditions/a before they travel /li#13; /ul#13;#13;#13; pIn other developments:/p#13; ulli Coastguards will decide later whether to resume the a href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-24697520search for a missing 14-year-old boy/a who was swept away by the sea in East Sussex/li#13; li a href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-24695824East Sussex County Council says refuse collections have been suspended/a on Monday because of the safety risk posed by the winds /li#13; /ul p id=story_continues_2Forecasters said exposed coasts in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent could face the strongest winds./p#13; pShips over the English Channel have reported gusts in excess of 80mph, with one in the Dover Straits nearer 90mph./p#13; pBBC Weather presenter Jay Wynne said gusts along the south coast were already in the region of 50-60mph and there was some heavy rain spreading up through the south west and southern counties of England and the south of Wales./p#13; pThe strongest winds are expected in early on Monday as the storm tracks its way across the southern part of the UK but they should have moved across the country to the North Sea by lunchtime./p#13; pThe Metropolitan Police is urging people to use its 101 number during the storm rather than 999, unless there is a genuine emergency./p#13; pWind speeds of 115 mph were recorded during the so-called Great Storm of October 1987./p#13; pemThere is more information about the forecasts for Sunday and Monday on the /ema href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/BBC Weather/aem, /ema href=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/Met Office/aem and /ema href=http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/3days/125305.aspxEnvironment Agency/aem websites. See /ema href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/travelnews/BBC Travel News/aem for up to date travel information and the /ema href=http://www.highways.gov.uk/winter Highways Agency/aem and /ema href=http://www.traffic-wales.com/Traffic Wales/aem websites for details about road conditions. /ema href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/hi/default.stmBBC Local/aem has information/emem from your area./em/p#13; div class=comment-introduction readability=-49#13; p class=introductionDo you live in one of the areas predicted to be hit by the storm? What precautions will you be taking? Has the weather forecast altered your plans? Please send us your comments using the form below./p#13; #13;/div#13; #13;#13;piSend your pictures and videos to byourpics@bbc.co.uk/b or text them to b61124/b (UK) or b+44 7624 800 100/b (International). 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