For much of the morning there were no train services to or from Gatwick Airport in West Sussex following a night of widespread storms that caused chaos on roads and rail and left 150,000 homes without power.
Then when passengers finally reached Gatwick they found that a power outage at the airport's North Terminal had led to flight cancellations and long delays.
A woman died in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, last night and a man was seriously hurt in a crash as the storm-related death toll rose to five people.
The tragedy happened after a man died in Cumbria yesterday when he fell into the River Rothay at Ambleside while a woman was pulled out of the water dead at Nant Ffrancon, Bethesda, Wales.
An 81-year-old woman died in a crash on the A1 near the Berwick bypass in Northumberland yesterday while a driver died near Bolventor, Cornwall, on Sunday evening after three cars crashed in a hail storm.
Train companies across southern England, including South West Trains, had cancelled services this morning after 160 trees came down on lines nationwide.
Prime Minister David Cameron was being keeping updated as power companies battled to restore supplies to those left without electricity.
He Tweeted: 'I'm across plans to get electricity to many without power. My thoughts are with them and those facing travel problems this Christmas Eve.'
Passengers were left 'in limbo' at Gatwick Airport's North Terminal as a power outage added to the travel misery felt across the country.
Those who arrived at the terminal for early morning flights were grounded as they tried to get away for Christmas, while the Gatwick Express train service was also cancelled.
The chaos was compounded by a lack of information and the closure of toilets, coffee shops, restaurants and other facilities due to the power cut, passengers complained.
By late morning, 15 flights had been cancelled and some others were delayed. Passengers took to Twitter to complain, first, that there were too few announcements and secondly, that the announcements that were made were inaudible.
One angry traveller said on Twitter: '@Gatwick-Airport is a disaster zone. Power failed, no computers and baggage cannot get to planes. Floors covered with people.'
Graziella Vella, a six-months-pregnant make-up artist from Kilburn in north west London, was due to fly to Malta to spend Christmas with her family.
The 37-year-old said: 'I am fuming and absolutely desperate - there has been no information at all and we can't make alternative plans.
'We're just hanging in limbo... at least if they said 'Nothing is going to happen, come back tomorrow', but there is no information of any kind.
'It is absolutely choc-a-bloc and in the check-in room upstairs there are 50 people queuing for the one toilet that is working.'
The Southern train company were able to start running services to Gatwick airport by late morning, but there were no Gatwick Express services due to run from London to the West Sussex airport before 3.15pm.
A Gatwick spokeswoman said: 'All North Terminal arriving flights are operating normally and all flights to and from South Terminal are unaffected.
'We are looking into the cause of the power outage. It's definitely weather-related. We are doing everything we can to get people away for Christmas and we understand passengers' frustrations. We have extra staff helping out in the terminals.'
In Dorset, firefighters rescued 30 people in Sturminster, Blandford, Shaftesbury, Sherborne and Wimborne.
Despite the weather, the planned Christmas Day swim from Weymouth harbour is still going to be held.
The London Fire Brigade said they had 853 call outs last night - which is five times higher than the normal number.
The Environment Agency has issued 263 flood alerts and 154 flood warnings across England and Wales. There were also hurricance-force winds of 92mph in the Scottish Highlands.
A ferry which left Portsmouth for Bilbao on Sunday night was forced to dock this morning 600 miles away from its destination.
The passengers were forced to get off in Brest, northern France, at 8am this morning 36 hours after they left England - and still 600 miles away from their destination in northern Spain.
The ferry left Portsmouth at 10.30pm on Sunday night, docked briefly at Plymouth as scheduled and was supposed to reach northern Spain this morning.
However, because of severe weather it was forced to take shelter in the Bay of Biscay before docking in Brittany at 8am today.
Passenger Catriona Koris, who was going to visit her parents-in-law in Portugal, told the BBC last night: ‘They couldn’t get a port to take the ferry in.
‘At one point my chair slid from one side of the boat to the other. We have had injured people airlifted to safety. We have had helicopters coming down.
‘The gentleman next to us was airlifted on a spinal board and neck brace.’
This morning she Tweeted: 'Thx 4 for abandoning us xmas eve, nth France, no refund, no ferries to UK, no-where to stay, 24hr drive from destination.'
The passengers were forced to get off in Brest, northern France, at 8am this morning 36 hours after they left England - and still 600 miles away from their destination in northern Spain.
The ferry left Portsmouth at 10.30pm on Sunday night, docked briefly at Plymouth as scheduled and was supposed to reach northern Spain this morning.
However, because of severe weather it was forced to take shelter in the Bay of Biscay before docking in Brittany at 8am today.
Passenger Catriona Koris, who was going to visit her parents-in-law in Portugal, told the BBC last night: ‘They couldn’t get a port to take the ferry in.
‘At one point my chair slid from one side of the boat to the other. We have had injured people airlifted to safety. We have had helicopters coming down.
‘The gentleman next to us was airlifted on a spinal board and neck brace.’
This morning she Tweeted: 'Thx 4 for abandoning us xmas eve, nth France, no refund, no ferries to UK, no-where to stay, 24hr drive from destination.'
Train passengers in Taunton, Somerset, were left stranded on a train all night because of flooding on the line.
Steven Rowe, who was trapped overnight, said: ‘The train was terminated the train at Taunton. We did not hear from anyone, were given free food but everyone was exhausted and getting very angry.
‘They offered to give the staff taxis. But they didn't offer a hotel. We were already going 50mph so the journey took longer and we hit a number of trees on the way.’
Passengers were put on coaches to Exeter and had to make their own way to Plymouth.
In Shrewsbury, Shropshire, a woman died and a man was seriously hurt in a crash which happened in 'difficult weather conditions', the West Midlands Ambulance Service said.
'Weather conditions at the time were very difficult. On arrival, crews found three cars at the scene.
Firefighters were undertaking life support on a woman in one of the cars. Sadly despite all efforts, it was not possible to save her and she was confirmed dead at the scene. A man from the same car was assessed but was uninjured.
'A man in his 30s from a second car was trapped for over half an hour. He had suffered facial, hip and leg injuries. A woman in the third car was uninjured.'
Five teenagers were also injured in a separate incident after their car rolled over in 'wet and windy' weather conditions north of Wolverhampton, West Midlands.
On the roads, the M48 Severn crossing was closed. Many roads were affected by flooding or fallen trees, including sections of the M25, the M5 In Gloucestershire, the A20 in Sidcup in south east London, the A22 in West Sussex, and the A25 in Surrey.
Among sections of roads closed due to fallen trees were the A286 in Grayswood in Surrey, the A287 in Haslemere in Surrey and the A303 in Chicklade in Wiltshire, where power cables were also blocking the road.
South West Trains is not running any trains until 10am to allow for safety checks after 160 trees came down on lines across the country.
A spokesman for Network Rail said that the majority of the trees had fallen on lines going in to London Waterloo, although a few had come down on the West Coast main line and in Scotland.
Steven Rowe, who was trapped overnight, said: ‘The train was terminated the train at Taunton. We did not hear from anyone, were given free food but everyone was exhausted and getting very angry.
‘They offered to give the staff taxis. But they didn't offer a hotel. We were already going 50mph so the journey took longer and we hit a number of trees on the way.’
Passengers were put on coaches to Exeter and had to make their own way to Plymouth.
In Shrewsbury, Shropshire, a woman died and a man was seriously hurt in a crash which happened in 'difficult weather conditions', the West Midlands Ambulance Service said.
'Weather conditions at the time were very difficult. On arrival, crews found three cars at the scene.
Firefighters were undertaking life support on a woman in one of the cars. Sadly despite all efforts, it was not possible to save her and she was confirmed dead at the scene. A man from the same car was assessed but was uninjured.
'A man in his 30s from a second car was trapped for over half an hour. He had suffered facial, hip and leg injuries. A woman in the third car was uninjured.'
Five teenagers were also injured in a separate incident after their car rolled over in 'wet and windy' weather conditions north of Wolverhampton, West Midlands.
On the roads, the M48 Severn crossing was closed. Many roads were affected by flooding or fallen trees, including sections of the M25, the M5 In Gloucestershire, the A20 in Sidcup in south east London, the A22 in West Sussex, and the A25 in Surrey.
Among sections of roads closed due to fallen trees were the A286 in Grayswood in Surrey, the A287 in Haslemere in Surrey and the A303 in Chicklade in Wiltshire, where power cables were also blocking the road.
South West Trains is not running any trains until 10am to allow for safety checks after 160 trees came down on lines across the country.
A spokesman for Network Rail said that the majority of the trees had fallen on lines going in to London Waterloo, although a few had come down on the West Coast main line and in Scotland.
Network Rail asked for passengers'
patience, saying it had teams out overnight to assess the state of
tracks. It said in southern England the storm damage was greater than
that of the 'St Jude's Storm' a few weeks ago.
A spokesman for rail industry body the Rail Delivery Group said: 'We apologise to passengers whose journeys to join family and friends over the festive period have been affected by the bad weather yesterday and today.
'Strong winds have damaged overhead wires and brought down more than 80 trees on to lines, and some parts of the network have been flooded overnight.'
He went on: Rail staff have been working round the clock to clear tracks but many services have started later than planned to ensure repairs can be completed and blockages removed so that trains can run safely.
'As the stormy weather subsides, a growing number of train companies are running services although delays will be likely on many routes.
'We will continue to keep passengers up to date with information and advice. Many operators have lifted ticket restrictions, and the industry's key focus will be to get people where they need to be for Christmas. Anyone planning to travel should still check the National Rail Enquiries website or speak to their train company for the latest information.'
The c2c train company said most services had resumed, with the company running an off-peak timetable today.
On First Capital Connect and on East Coast services, flooding at Potters Bar in Hertfordshire led to disruption and diversion. Southern and Southeastern were able to operate some routes as the morning went on.
A spokesman for the South West Trains-Network Rail Alliance said: 'The past 24 hours have been very difficult for our customers and we are sorry they have faced significant disruption.
'It has also been a tough time for our frontline teams across the network who have been working extremely hard in difficult conditions to keep trains running.'
Those working right up to Christmas and those getting away for the holidays faced severe disruption to rail services.
The Southern and Southeastern train companies suspended services, which meant no Gatwick Express services were running, while a number of other companies were unable to run any early-morning trains.
South West Trains said no trains were running before 10am, with the company reporting 28 trees blocking its lines as well as six instances of flooding.
A spokesman for rail industry body the Rail Delivery Group said: 'We apologise to passengers whose journeys to join family and friends over the festive period have been affected by the bad weather yesterday and today.
'Strong winds have damaged overhead wires and brought down more than 80 trees on to lines, and some parts of the network have been flooded overnight.'
He went on: Rail staff have been working round the clock to clear tracks but many services have started later than planned to ensure repairs can be completed and blockages removed so that trains can run safely.
'As the stormy weather subsides, a growing number of train companies are running services although delays will be likely on many routes.
'We will continue to keep passengers up to date with information and advice. Many operators have lifted ticket restrictions, and the industry's key focus will be to get people where they need to be for Christmas. Anyone planning to travel should still check the National Rail Enquiries website or speak to their train company for the latest information.'
The c2c train company said most services had resumed, with the company running an off-peak timetable today.
On First Capital Connect and on East Coast services, flooding at Potters Bar in Hertfordshire led to disruption and diversion. Southern and Southeastern were able to operate some routes as the morning went on.
A spokesman for the South West Trains-Network Rail Alliance said: 'The past 24 hours have been very difficult for our customers and we are sorry they have faced significant disruption.
'It has also been a tough time for our frontline teams across the network who have been working extremely hard in difficult conditions to keep trains running.'
Those working right up to Christmas and those getting away for the holidays faced severe disruption to rail services.
The Southern and Southeastern train companies suspended services, which meant no Gatwick Express services were running, while a number of other companies were unable to run any early-morning trains.
South West Trains said no trains were running before 10am, with the company reporting 28 trees blocking its lines as well as six instances of flooding.
