Millions have had their plans for the Christmas getaway thrown into complete chaos today as a violent storm has hit western Britain and will spread eastwards across the UK over the next 24 hours.Railway stations and airports are already filling up with passengers after they were urged to bring forward their journeys so they can get home before the bad weather sets in across the majority of the UK this afternoon.The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning running into Christmas Eve because of gale force gusts of up to 80mph and flooding caused by torrential rain. Gusts of up to 70mph have already been recorded.The storm will hit in two waves, first peaking across the UK this afternoon, with a slight lull in the evening before wind and rain intensifies again overnight before clearing on Christmas Eve morning.Many train operators are offering customers the chance to use any pre-booked tickets for travel on earlier trains in order to avoid the expected disruption, with hundreds of cancellations expected during the evening rush hour.And if the trains do run journeys are likely to be substantially lengthened as a nationwide train 'go slow' of 50mph is likely to be imposed.Motorists are warned to prepare for delays, while train and bus operators have already cancelled many services and urged passengers with journeys booked for later today or early tomorrow to put forward their plans.The south-west, Wales and southern England are expected to be the worst hit, with Scotland also expected to suffer badly with snow, sleet and widespread ice.Hundreds of homes in Cornwall are already without power.Train operators are warning of widespread delays, disruptions and cancellations, while many have lifted restrictions allowing passengers to travel on any train.The AA has also warned that road disruption is likely, and advised drivers to be wary of atrocious driving conditions because of heavy rain and standing water.The QEII Bridge at Dartford will close shortly before midday as a result of the weather warning, Essex Police said.The bridge is expected to remain closed for 16 hours, reopening at about 4am tomorrow.A police spokesman said: 'The tunnels will remain open to help maintain the flow of traffic, but congestion is expected so drivers are advised to seek alternative routes if possible or avoid the Thurrock and Dartford areas of Essex and Kent.'The Environment Agency said six flood warnings were in place, along with 73 less serious flood alerts, the majority in southern England.Chris Burton, from weather forecaster MeteoGroup, said the combination of wind and rain could cause flooding, bring down trees and leave widespread disruption to rail and road travel.He said: 'The rain is going to be heaviest and most persistent across southern areas of England, the Midlands and Wales, with up to 2in (50mm) of rain falling.'There has been plenty of wet weather in the last week or so, there is a risk of localised or even widespread flooding if the rain continues overnight tonight, as expected.'Strong winds will continue throughout today, with gusts of 60mph across England and Wales, Northern Ireland and western Scotland. Overnight they will be even stronger, with gusts of 70mph or 80mph possible across south east England and East Anglia.'But by first thing tomorrow morning the weather should have turned a bit less wet and windy.'The severe weather warnings are in place until 9am on Christmas Eve, threatening to cause localised flooding across southern England and Wales, particularly in areas which have already experienced plenty of rain in recent weeks with the ground already saturated.'We have a rainfall warning all the way through to 9am tomorrow morning and we're expecting in the region of 30 to 40mm, particularly over Dartmoor' said a Met Office spokesman.'The wind is probably the main feature, and we'll see the wind pick up across the south. They will be gales really, everywhere across southern and central areas.'The real focus for the strongest winds will be in the South East and all along the south coast today - there will be severe gales.'We will be asking people if their travel is really essential - of course today will be the worst day for travel with the holiday period getting underway, it's the worst possible time.'Residents in York have already been hit by severe flooding after heavy rain across North Yorkshire caused the River Ouse to burst its banks. The worst of the weather is expected to pass in time for Christmas Day as the weather turns colder. Forecasters predict it could be a white Christmas in the Scottish Highlands and northerly parts of England and Wales.Today 21 rail operators  – including Heathrow Express – warned that train services would be slashed and speed restrictions imposed today as a result of the high winds. Hundreds of rail services are set to be affected, including on the East Coast and Virgin West lines linking London to the North of England and Scotland, as the weather warning has been raised from amber to the higher alert of orange.Train companies, including East Coast and Grand Central have lifted their ticketing restrictions for today and tomorrow, allowing custoemrs to travel on any trains.Grand Central have said passengers travelling on some services between London Kings Cross and Sunderland may use East Coast and First Capital Connect trains to complete their journeys.Southeastern train services between Tunbridge Wells and Hastings in Kent were being replaced with buses this morning after a land slip in Wadhurst shortly before 6am, with journey times being extended by 30 minutes.National Rail said this problem would not be sorted until 8am at the earliest.The Government-run East Coast firm said it will halve its train services from teatime today, with just four an hour instead of the usual eight in and out of London King’s Cross. It warned that disruption and cancellations will continue well into tomorrow evening.Virgin Trains will cut services by up to two thirds between London Euston, Manchester and Birmingham. ‘Clearly this is not good news on this of all days,’ said a Virgin spokesman.As of 7am this morning First Great Western, which runs many of the services between London and the South West was not reporting any weather-related cancellations, although passengers with tickets booked for after 12noon were being advised they could travel on an earlier service.(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az