Passengers in Scotland and northern England faced Sunday train cancellations as Storm Boelo brought damaging winds and heavy rain to the United Kingdom, disrupting travel and forcing event organizers to cancel public programs.
The Met Office forecast gusts of 70-80 mph at exposed coastal and elevated locations, with 50-60 mph possible across broader areas. Rainfall was forecast at 20-40 millimeters in the warning area, while parts of northern Scotland could receive 60-80 millimeters from Saturday evening through Sunday afternoon.
Avanti West Coast advised passengers to avoid travel north of Preston on Sunday and planned a reduced timetable. LNER advised against journeys between Edinburgh and Aberdeen and planned to cancel all services to and from Aberdeen except one train to Edinburgh. TransPennine Express said its Liverpool Lime Street–Glasgow Central trains would not run; its other services using the West Coast Main Line would start or end at Carlisle.
Some disruption had already occurred Saturday. Greater Anglia reported that a fallen tree damaged overhead wires between Manningtree and Harwich Town/Ipswich, limiting services.
VisitLiverpool canceled its River of Light event on Saturday, Oct. 24, because of the weather. Historic Environment Scotland listed Edinburgh Castle as closed Sunday, Oct. 25. A notice on Diwali in London's media page said Sunday's Diwali on the Square was canceled because of forecast storms, although the page's event details still showed the original schedule.
Storm Austen brought wind and rain to southern parts of the UK on Thursday night and Friday. The Met Office described Boelo as a separate low-pressure system and said an active jet stream would strengthen it as it crossed the Atlantic. EconoTimes previously reported power outages linked to Austen in the UK.
The Met Office expected the strongest winds to ease from the west Sunday morning. National Rail warned that storm-related disruption could continue until Monday, Oct. 26.
