Hurricane Gonzalo: 100mph Gale Force Winds Batter Britain

Heathrow Airport has said some flights will be cancelled as Hurricane Gonzalo makes its presence felt. Around 10% of flights at the London airport will be affected, it said.

Some flights in and out of Heathrow Airport have already been cancelled due to the forecast. A spokesman for the airport told the Daily Mail: "Strong winds are forecast for Tuesday and some flights may be subject to delays and cancellations.

"Please check your flight status with your airline before coming to the airport and leave extra time for your journey to and from the airport."

"Much of the UK and Northern Europe will experience high winds and heavy rain on Tuesday as a result of the tail-end of Hurricane Gonzalo.

"British Airways has agreed with a request from Heathrow Airport and National Air Traffic Services (NATS) to reduce its schedule at Heathrow as there will be a lower number of aircraft allowed to land each hour for safety reasons."

Gale force winds, torrential rain and falling trees are expected to hit the UK in the wake of Hurricane Gonzalo.

Commuters are facing not only facing cancelled flights but also treacherous driving conditions, poor visibility, flash floods and severe problems on Britain's roads and railways.

Hurricane Gonzalo, although now downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone is still a force to be reckoned with.

Sean Penston, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, said in a PA report: "There will be strengthening winds and rain over Ireland in the middle of the evening as the storm comes in from the Atlantic.

"It will reach north-western parts of Britain late in the evening, with gusts up to 45mph over north-western parts of Scotland by midnight, but these will increase to gusts up to 75mph during the night.

"The area of rainy, windy weather will then move eastwards, varying in intensity across the UK, with the strongest gusts on the coasts. We can expect gusts up to 65mph in the north west tomorrow morning, and up to 50mph in central and eastern parts of England in the afternoon."

The Environment Agency has warned people to keep away from coasts at high tides in the East and North-West, as coastal flooding could be dangerous.

To prepare for possible power cuts, energy suppliers have thousands of engineers on standby. Rail companies are also reported to be deploying chainsaw gangs to remove fallen trees and branches from railway tracks.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: "We're deploying chainsaw gangs across affected areas. Hundreds of engineers are on standby.

"We're checking all flood pumps are operational in areas with at risk from flooding and have cross-industry conference calls with rail operators through the day and night."

There are also concerns that the storm brought on by Hurricane Gonzalo could bring an oil slick close to Whitsand Bay in Corwall, one of England's most beautiful beaches. There are fears that birds and seals could perish.

The slick had been spotted floating off the Cornish beach, according to a Daily Mirror report and is believed to have been released from a wreckage disturbed on the sea bed.