Delegates travelling by train for the start of Cop26 were yesterday forced to book a flight instead after high winds brought chaos to the railways.
Hundreds of people were left stranded on trains and at stations when rail operators all around the country announced that stormy conditions had caused blockages.
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park, the environment minister, was among those unable to reach Glasgow, where the climate summit is being held, when a west coast main line train was evacuated due to a tree falling on the overhead wires between Rugby and Milton Keynes.
Passengers were advised by Avanti West Coast, which operates trains on the line, to cancel their travel plans yesterday and try again today.
London North Eastern Railway, which operates trains to Glasgow on the east coast main line, also warned customers against travelling after it said overhead wires at Peterborough had been damaged. Great Western Rail said that due to heavy flooding between Westbury and Pewsey all its lines were blocked too.
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Many passengers stuck at Euston opted to fly instead. David Johnson, chief executive of the Margaret Pyke Trust, a UK-based international NGO, booked a flight from Gatwick to Glasgow which, he said, does “seem ridiculous”.
“The irony of the climate impacting the trains, meaning a flight to the climate change conference is the only way to get there today, is not lost on me.” A flight from London to Glasgow will emit roughly 140kg of carbon per passenger. A train journey would emit about 20kg per passenger.
Other passengers who were due to be travelling by train from London Euston to Glasgow hurried the short distance across north London to King’s Cross station to try to catch a train to Edinburgh, from where it is just a 45-minute additional journey to Glasgow. Trains were initially leaving King’s Cross for Edinburgh with delays of about an hour, but passengers were then told several trees had fallen on the line around Peterborough. Tickets for this route cost on average about £70. Last night they were on sale for as much as £220. London North East Railway told passengers at about 3pm: “Additional trees have fallen on to the northbound and southbound lines at Peterborough. Services will be further delayed or cancelled.”
Some trains were still able to depart sporadically, however, many with people sitting on the floor.
Posters for Cop26 at Euston thanked delegates for opting to be eco-friendly by “travelling by train”. However, many people said they had been forced to book short-haul flights to make it to Glasgow in time for the conference.
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Ellen Gibson, UK organiser at 350.org, a New York-based environmental organisation, said: “I’m sat on a stationary train waiting for storm damage to be repaired so I can continue travelling to the climate summit in Glasgow. This kind of weather disruption is only going to get worse if we don’t see real action on the climate crisis coming out of Cop26.”
The disruption comes after heavy rain and high winds over the weekend. On Sunday, the south and east of England were buffeted by gusts of up to 80mph. Weather warnings are in place across eastern parts of England, Wales and Scotland. There were unconfirmed reports of a tornado hitting Northamptonshire.
Earl Spencer said a tornado hit the park at Althorp House and the Rev Richard Coles described a tornado hitting his church in Finedon. Tom Morgan, a Met Office meteorologist, said he could not confirm any tornadoes but would not rule them out.
“It’s not out of the question that there will have been some localised, brief funnel clouds or tornadoes,” he said. The stormy weather is set to ease from today, with sunny spells in the south, according to the Met Office. From tomorrow to Thursday there will be showers around coasts, though mainly dry inland with sunny spells by day and some frost and fog patches overnight.
