UK News
Gale force winds batter Britain as air-and ferry services hit
Dec 8, 2011, 17:42 GMT
London - Stormy weather battered Britain on Thursday, leaving thousands of homes in Scotland without power and disrupting cross-Channel ferry traffic to France, the authorities said.
Scotland and northern England took the brunt of the gale force winds, reaching up to 250 kilometres an hour. Schools remained closed and road, rail-and air travel was severely disrupted.
Double-decker buses were withdrawn from service in Scottish cities, as Christmas decorations were dislodged from their fixtures and 12,000 homes were plunged into darkness, the authorities said.
In the south, ferry travel between Dover, in southern England, and Calais, in France, were delayed as gales caused 'poor visibility' in the English Channel between Britain and France.
