No high-speed services are expected to run between Ebbsfleet International, in Kent, and London St Pancras International today because a tunnel under the Thames is flooded.

UK weather: The latest Sky News forecast

Eurostar, which runs services from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, said services from the capital have been cancelled "until the end of the day" and apologised to customers for the impact to their travel plans.

The flooding, in tunnels near Ebbsfleet International, is also disrupting Southeastern Railway trains and the operator said no services will run between Ebbsfleet and St Pancras until at least midday.

Simon Calder, travel editor for The Independent, told Sky News thousands of passengers are arriving at St Pancras and "finding out they are going nowhere".

"Many desperate people are paying hundreds of pounds for flights, others are planing to get the bus," he said.

"A family heading to Disney told me they were going home to get the car to drive and get either the Euro tunnel or a ferry across the Channel."

Gusts of up to 75mph could hit parts of the south of England and Wales on Saturday, the Met Office warned, while northern Scotland could see "significant snow".

A yellow weather alert for wind has been issued for parts of the South East, South West, East Anglia and Wales from 11am on Saturday until 3am on New Year's Eve.

A separate yellow warning for rain has been issued across part of Wales between 10am and 6pm on Saturday.

A yellow rain warning has also been placed across most of Northern Ireland from 4am until 11am, with up to 25mm of rain expected in just a few hours.

In Scotland, a yellow weather warning for ice covers the north and northwest until 10am, with much of the country covered by one for rain and snow from 8am until midnight.

The Environment Agency has issued more than 30 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and almost 100 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, in England.

'It's going to feel close to freezing'

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill advised those heading out on New Year's Eve to wrap up warm, with "strong blustery winds" making it "feel close to freezing for many places".

"Definitely a chilly feel to things as the clock strikes midnight," he added.

Even southern England, which should be relatively mild at 11C or 12C, the combination of wind and rain could make things "pretty unpleasant".

More travel disruption possible

The Met Office is warning the weather could lead to more transport disruption.

ScotRail, LNER, Avanti West Coast and London Northwestern Railway are among the train companies to have told passengers they should check before travelling in the coming days.

Speed restrictions will be put in place on the West Highland Lines from 10am on Saturday until 9am on Sunday due to the forecast, Network Rail Scotland said.

It comes after much of the UK was impacted by Storm Gerrit.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said it had restored power to almost 48,000 homes since the storm hit.

In Wales, 36,000 properties have also contended with outages after lightning struck in Ceredigion.

And in Greater Manchester, residents in Stalybridge, Tameside, and Carrbrook are still recovering from a freak tornado that toppled trees and damaged homes.

The whirlwind was thought to have been caused by a supercell thunderstorm.