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Lightning strike causes Eurostar delays

A lightning strike in Kent caused hundreds of Eurostar passengers to suffer delays yesterday.


It started a fire at a building near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel, causing overhead electrical power losses near Ashford.


Eurostar posted messages on Twitter saying three London-bound services and one Paris-bound train were affected.


The London-bound trains arrived at St Pancras by 1:40am. The firm initially said four trains – heading from Paris to London, Brussels to London and London to Paris – were travelling back to their points of departure.


However, in a later update the service said London-bound trains would continue to their destination, the BBC reported.


A Eurostar spokesman said the only train that did not reach its destination was a London to Paris service. “Customers are being offered taxis and hotels where necessary,” he said.


Eurostar said it intends “to run a normal service” today.


Kent Fire and Rescue said firefighters were called to “a number of incidents” following a lightning storm in the Folkestone and Dover area.


London City airport warned this morning that flights faced disruption due to low visibility and passengers should call their airline for information

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