Storm Ciarán live: Schools closed, flights grounded as major incident declared in UK

London Heathrow airport, the busiest in the UK, has imposed restrictions on the “flow rate” of arriving aircraft due to the strong winds expected to arrive with Storm Ciarán.

British Airways, which has more than half the slots at Heathrow, has grounded 30 domestic and European flights. They include two round trips to each of Amsterdam, Belfast City and Paris CDG.

Passengers are being rebooked on other services, or can take a full refund.

In addition, all four BA services to and from Jersey have been grounded due to the closure of the island’s airport all day on Thursday.

In addition, KLM has cancelled five round-trips between Amsterdam and Heathrow due to reduced runway capacity at the Dutch airport.

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) has issued 12 flood alerts across parts of Scotland as well as two flood warnings in Dumfries and Galloway and Tayside.

Two amber warnings, the second highest level of alert, are in place for parts of the south coast of England today, together with further yellow rain warnings, the lowest level, meaning some disruption could be on the way.

The Met Office stays Storm Ciarán will cross the southern part of the UK on Thursday. But ahead of the storm, the weather service warns “a squally cold front will move eastwards across southern and southeast England bringing bursts of heavy rain and coastal gusts of 60-70mph, mainly from Dorset eastwards”.

Train passengers travelling between Scotland and England are facing disruption due to bad weather and warnings.

A yellow warning for rain is in place for the east coast of Scotland, from the Moray coast stretching down to Hull.

Train operators have warned travellers to expect disruption on cross-border services.

No LNER services between Edinburgh and Aberdeen will operate after 10.30am today until Saturday in both directions.

The operator’s services between Newcastle and Edinburgh will run on an hourly service from 3pm and will be in place until the end of service on Friday.

Speed restrictions will be in place on the route which may see services subject to delays of up to 40 minutes.

Network Rail is imposing speed restrictions across parts of Scotland and while most ScotRail services will be unaffected, some areas will see delays.

Speed restrictions will be in place on routes between Aberdeen and Inverness; Berwick and Edinburgh; Edinburgh and Dundee and Dundee and Aberdeen.

TransPennine Express services between Newcastle and Edinburgh will also be subject to delays, with the operator urging passengers to check their journeys ahead of travel.

Large parts of Newry in Co Down have been swamped by floodwater as the city’s canal burst its banks amid heavy rainfall.

Dozens of businesses were engulfed in the floods, with widespread damage caused to buildings, furnishings and stock.

Police have warned people to stay out of the city centre as streets have turned into rivers.

Thousands of sandbags have been stacked along the canal to try to stem to flow amid fear of further breaches.

Here is the predicted path Storm Ciarán is set to take as it sweeps across the UK from Wednesday night.

Storm Ciarán is the latest extreme weather event the UK has seen in recent weeks. The third named storm of this year’s season comes after areas across Scotland and north-east England were battered with the worst of Storm Babet, which caused serious damage and several deaths when it hit last week.

From flooding to heatwaves, wildfires to droughts, Earth’s weather cycles have shown signs of becoming increasingly more erratic, severe and prolonged, and though there is no blanket explanation for this change in weather patterns, human-induced global warming is a major underlying factor.

The Independent looks at extreme weather below:

With Storm Ciarán set to batter the UK overnight, here’s the Met Office’s advice for travelling in a storm:

If heavy downpours are expected, avoid starting your journey until it clears.If you can, choose main roads, where you are less likely to be exposed to fallen branches and debris and flooding.Use dipped headlights if visibility is seriously reduced.If the road is flooded, turn around and find another route. The number one cause of death during flooding is driving through flood water, so the safest advice is turn around, don’t drown.Keep an eye out for gaps between trees, buildings or bridges over a river or railwayFlood water also contains hidden hazards which can damage your car, and just an egg-cupful of water sucked into your car’s engine will lead to severe damage.Gusts of wind can unsettle vehicles – grip your steering wheel firmly with both hands.Remember to give vulnerable road users including cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians more room than usual – they are more likely to be blown around by side winds

Will your child’s school be closed tomorrow?