Thousands stranded at New Year as Eurostar cancelled

New year plans for thousands have been thrown into chaos after Eurostar cancelled all its services to and from London St Pancras due to flooding in a tunnel under the River Thames.

Many frustrated passengers are now stranded in London and Paris, scrambling to rearrange New Year's Eve plans and find other travel routes.

Some were facing expensive hotel bills or costly airfares.

Eurostar has not yet said whether services will resume on Sunday.

But HS1, which operates the track, said the problems would "take time" to resolve.

A video taken inside the flooded tunnel shows water gushing onto the tracks from a pipe attached to the tunnel's wall.

Thames Water said a "fire control system" was likely to have caused the flooding, rather than one of its own pipes.

All Southeastern's high-speed services to Ebbsfleet, which use the same line, were also cancelled.

Eurostar, which runs services from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, said affected customers were entitled to a full refund or exchange.

At a crowded St Pancras on Saturday, disappointed travellers sat on suitcases, frantically trying to find alternative routes.

Christina David, 25, and Georgina Benyamin, 26, from Sydney, saw their train cancelled after travelling around Europe on a budget for three weeks.

They planned to "go hard" for their final stop in Paris - where they hoped to celebrate the New Year at an expensive hotel with a view of the Eiffel Tower - before flying home.

Ms Benyamin said she wanted to see Paris "light up" but was now feeling frustrated and angry.

"There were lots of people crying," said her friend, Ms David. "We don't know where to go, we have nowhere to stay."

There were similar stories from across the Channel.

Curt Downs, his wife Megan and their one-year-old son were among hundreds stuck at Paris' Gare Du Nord station, after their train was cancelled.

"Eurostar staff there were completely overwhelmed and couldn't really suggest anything for us," he told BBC News.

One staff member told them they had 4,000 passengers to assist, but all flights from Paris and ferries from Calais were sold out, he said.

Mr Downs said the family spent two hours trying to find a way back to the UK, looking for ferries, car hire and flights.

They managed to get some of the last seats on a £450 flight from Paris to Manchester, from where Mrs Downs' mother is doing a five-hour round trip drive to get them home to Bedfordshire.

Megan Downs and her young son on the train to the airport in Paris after their Eurostar service was cancelled

Before it became clear all services were cancelled, Joshua Parisutham, 31, from Harrow in London, told BBC News that some travellers at St Pancras were offering their tickets to those who were particularly upset or desperate to travel.

And one man was seen wandering around the station clutching an iPad, saying "taxi to Paris".

At 17:30 on Saturday, the Port of Dover advised stranded Eurostar travellers that there was no remaining foot passenger availability for the day.

HS1, which operates the track, said engineers had worked through the night to remove water into Saturday morning but the volume of water was "unprecedented".

Pumps and tankers are on the site and water levels are reducing, the company added, and apologised for the inconvenience caused.

An HS1 spokesperson added on Saturday evening: "We are doing everything possible to restore services but this is proving challenging and will take time."

It is the second time in 10 days there has been major disruption to Eurostar services, with a "last-minute strike" by French workers halting trains before Christmas.

Separately, there is major disruption on Thameslink services - which run through London and across south-east England - and a reduced service on Northern Rail, which covers the north of England, due to staff shortages.

In Wales, the line between Llandudno Junction and Blaenau Ffestiniog has been closed due to "severe weather", while trains between Swansea and Shrewsbury have been cancelled due to flooding.

Speed restrictions are in place on the West Highland Line until 09:00 on Sunday due to the forecast, Network Rail Scotland said. Some flights at Glasgow Airport were also delayed due to snow on the runway.

The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for wind, rain and snow for large parts of the UK, including:

• Rain and snow for most of Scotland until midnight

• Wind across Wales, the south of England and parts of the East Anglian coast until 03:00 on Sunday