Storms rub salt into rail travellers' wounds

The list of wintry hazards capable of halting the railways, already ranging from rotting leaves to the wrong type of snow, was expanded last night when sea salt wreaked havoc with the Eurostar service.

Six of the trains were stopped at the entrance to the Channel Tunnel after salt blown from stormy seas caused power lines to short circuit. A further seven trains from France and Belgium were cancelled. About 1,000 passengers were put up in hotels.

Thousands of people in Britain were still without power yesterday after the weekend gales that killed eight people and threatened to land the country with a repair bill of hundreds of millions of pounds.

Insurers said the damage would not match that caused by the widespread flooding two years ago. Malcolm Tarling, of the Association of British Insurers, said: "We're looking at damage running into the tens of millions, but if it runs into the hundreds of millions that wouldn't be a surprise."