Storm Pia: High winds cause fallen trees and Yorkshire trains delayed

A yellow weather warning is in place across Yorkshire and most of the north of Britain due to Storm Pia, which has caused many transport delays and cancellations and trees to fall.

The Met Office said widespread gusts of 50 to 60mph have hit the county today (Dec 21), leading to road closures, train speed restrictions and several delays.

A sign of the storm is found in Calverley, Leeds, as a tree has been downed on Crowther Avenue, blocking traffic and pedestrians from passing.

A tree was also downed over the A660 Otley to Leeds Bradford Junction, however, the road was made passable after a lorry driver managed to drag the tree to the side of the road.

Several LNER trains have been delayed or cancelled in Yorkshire, the National Rail confirmed:

• Due to speed restrictions trains running between York / Leeds and Doncaster may be delayed by up to 20 minutes.
• Services to / from Bradford Forster Square may be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised due to a fallen tree being caught in the overhead wires in the Shipley area earlier this morning.
• Due to an object being caught in the overhead electric wires, trains running between Doncaster and Retford may be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until 11:00.

Alongside these, several East Midlands Railway trains have been delayed including trains between Sheffield and Stockport due to high winds causing speed restrictions. This is causing delays on the Liverpool / Nottingham / Norwich route.

Some bus routes have also been impacted as the Stagecoach X17 is not able to run between Walton, Matlock and Wirksworth due to the storm, but the X17 can run as normal between Walton, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Meadowhall and Barnsley.

The Met Office expect the yellow wind weather warning to be lifted by 3pm today (Dec 21).