Train companies warn against travel as hurricane-force storm approaches First Capital Connect warned against inessential travel and said its timetable was expected to be "severely disrupted and may be suspended on some routes." East Coast said it was running an amended timetable and passengers should be prepared for delays. The storm is expected to cause chaos for rush hour commuters on one of the busiest days of the week on the railways. Airports also warned of disruption. Heathrow said passengers should check the status of their flight. As the country battened down the hatches for the wind, a wind turbine collapsed in strong winds which swept across Devon over the weekend. No-one was reported injured after the 90ft turbine came down in a field at Higher Rixdale Farm at Luton, near Teignmouth. Michael Fish, the forecaster who famously failed to predict the 1987 storm, advised people should delay to coming into work if hurricane-force winds hit their area. People should take "two or three hours" off work on Monday morning if the predicted storm hits their area, he suggested. He said: "These strong winds...are going to be unfortunately at around getting up time and rush-hour time." So the message we're trying to convey at the moment is to delay your journey just by two or three hours in the morning and then you should be safe. Helen Chivers of the Met Office said the worst of the storm would hit London and the Home Counties between 6 and 7am, just as many commuters are heading to work. "When people are getting up in the morning it would be good advice to check the latest forecast, and if they need to delay their journey to do so," she said. The Met Office was now "confident" of its forecast for the storm, she said. The wind would be preceded by heavy rains in the south west of the country from about 9pm on Sunday evening, Ms Chivers said. And the rains will continue as the storm pushes across the country, bringing up to 50mm of water to some areas over a six hour period. Areas to the north of the storm's path are likely to be the worst affected, with the Environment Agency issuing flood alerts for the South West, Wales and the Midlands, as well as the North West and North East. The AA underlined the Met Office's warnings at the weekend, urging drivers who had to take to the roads on Monday to use extra caution. Darron Burness, head of the organisation's flood rescue team, said: "The timing couldn't really be worse, potentially causing significant travel disruption on Monday morning, which is one of the busiest times on the roads. Strong winds and torrential rain is an unpredictable and hazardous combination, which can be quite overwhelming when you're driving. The Metropolitan Police also advised people to dial 101 rather than 999 unless it was an emergency, ahead of a predicted surge in calls to report damage from the storm. "Calling 999 when it is not an emergency can reduce our effectiveness at dealing with genuine emergencies," a Scotland Yard spokesman said.