We've just seen an update from Eurostar:

As the Channel Tunnel has partially reopened we will start to resume services.

The overhead power supply issue remains, and we strongly advise all our passengers to postpone their journey to a different date.

Please don't come to the station if your train is confirmed as cancelled.

We regret that trains that can run will be subject to severe delays and possible last-minute cancellations.

Please check for live updates on the status of your train on the Train status and timetables page.

Jacob Phillips
Reporting from St Pancras

Two American tourists have spent hundreds of pounds to reach Paris tomorrow after their Eurostar service was cancelled today.

Haley Adams, 38, and Hannah Hagar, 35, paid $580 (£430) for flights to the French capital to celebrate Hannah's 36th birthday there.

The pair have had their Eurostar tickets refunded but say they will have to pay for an extra night at a hotel in London and cannot get a refund from the hotel they were going to stay at in Paris tonight.

Haley and Hannah, who are from Austin in Texas, arrived at St Pancras at 08:00.

They had reached passport control when they discovered their train had been cancelled. "There’s been a lot of queuing," says Haley. "We have been here for five hours."

Jacob Phillips
Reporting from St Pancras

A family from Mexico say their trip of a lifetime has been cast into doubt as their Eurostar service was cancelled.

Monserrat Hernandes, her brother John Paul and mother Olga are among dozens of people looking frantically at their phones near the Eurostar departure area at St Pancras International.

The family got on the Eurostar just after 08:00 GMT but after their train left for Paris it had to return due to the incident. “The train stopped and we were in Camden or somewhere like that,” explains Monserrat. “That’s what maps on my phone showed.”

“They say nothing is travelling today… there’s no hope for leaving tomorrow.”

The family spent Christmas in London and are due to spend New Year's Eve in Paris before travelling on to Rome and Madrid.

They are now searching for a flight or a ferry to make it to Paris.

“It’s like an American movie,” adds Monserrat. “Hopefully I find the love of my life.”

A little earlier, we reported that LNER was offering customers using their services to get to the Eurostar some flexibility with their tickets.

Other rail operators have since been offering similar options - including Southeastern Railway which is allowing customers to return home for free if they have been unable to travel with Eurostar.

National Rail, external has also said East Midlands Railway customers affected by the Eurostar cancellations can return home for no extra charge, while Great Western Railway customers can do the same or travel tomorrow on their ticket.

Alex Akhurst
BBC UGC/Eyewitness journalist

We can now bring you an update from Calais, where cars are queuing to board Folkestone-bound shuttles.

Kelly and her family were in the queue between the French and UK border posts for almost three hours, with very limited information. The family had been visiting relatives in Dijon, and drove to Calais this morning.

"There are probably about 30 cars stuck between France and UK border control," she says.

"We've been through France, but they won't let anyone go anywhere. If you want to go to your toilet you have to lose your space in the queue and join the masses in the terminal.

"There's kids squatting at the side of the road. It's quite a distressing situation really."

"We're in a bit of a scramble," Kim Cook tells our reporter Nicky Schiller at St Pancras.

She and her family - who hail from Tennessee - are meant to be travelling to Paris today to celebrate her and her husband Bobby's 25th wedding anniversary. But their train this morning was cancelled.

"All the flights are booked. There's no seats open today or tomorrow," Kim says.

She describes the scene at St Pancras as "a bit chaotic. They weren't giving us a lot of information but I'm sure they didn't have a lot of information to give."

The family are also due to fly back home to Tennessee in a few days, with their flights booked from Paris.

This "wasn't the plan" says Bobby, who adds that while "we've had a lovely time in London", he'd rather be on his way to Paris.

Those travelling through the Port of Dover can expect delays of up to 90 minutes due to the Channel Tunnel travel chaos, its operator has warned.

Those travelling to the UK's busiest ferry port must use the A20 and A2 to avoid congestion in the town, it adds.

Jacob Phillips
Reporting from St Pancras

Betty Ndukaeze has been trying to travel to Paris to celebrate New Year’s Eve with eight of her family.

Her brother Charles, his wife and three children have been visiting London from Nigeria.

The family say they were left trapped on a Eurostar train for over four hours - and it then had to return to St Pancras due to the disruption.

The group first arrived at St Pancras shortly after 05:00 GMT to catch the 07:01 GMT Eurostar service. But the train did not leave until around an hour later and was then forced to turn back.

"It was chaos from the moment we got here," says Betty. "They kept announcing there was a problem with the train ahead of us and saying they were trying to fix the problem.

"We just got back here. The journey back from where we were stuck was only 20 minutes."

The family are now worried they may have to spend "a fortune" to stay in a hotel near St Pancras, as they try to get another train later in the week.

Alex Emery
BBC News

Nayim and his wife Kimberley should be celebrating the marriage of an old friend this afternoon - but instead they're stuck on a train in Calais.

The couple are travelling from the Netherlands to attend the wedding in Maidstone, which started at 13:00 GMT. I spoke to Nayim 20 minutes after the service had started.

"My wife’s done her make-up for the wedding and I’ve got my suit in the car ready, but at this rate I don’t think I’ll be wearing it any time soon," he says.

"We might get there for the dessert and cheese."

Nayim says a "very helpful conductor" on the train has been giving them updates.

"He said in his 29 years of working on this he’s never seen anything like it."

Image source, Reuters

New images are coming in to us, showing large crowds of passengers at Gare du Nord, the Eurostar terminal in Paris.

This mirrors scenes at St Pancras International Station in London, where would-be passengers were awaiting updates on their journeys.

Image source, Reuters

A broken down LeShuttle train has been moved out of the Channel Tunnel, says a Eurostar spokesperson.

The operator says none of its passengers are stranded inside the tunnel after the power failure.

In a statement on its website LeShuttle says "services are resuming but remain severely disrupted".

"We are working hard to resolve this."

Jacob Phillips
Reporting from St Pancras

Diana Sanchez, who was due to travel to Paris today with a group of around 70 American tourists to celebrate New Year's Eve, says it's "chaos" at St Pancras.

The group arrived at the station at around 08:00 GMT and found "huge crowds and long lines" as Eurostar passengers tried to find out about delays.

"No one really knew what was going on," she says.

"After about two hours, they finally told us that all Eurostar routes were cancelled because of major damage in the tunnel and an engineering issue."

The group heard a train was stuck in the tunnel and that everything "was shut down".

"Now they are telling us the only option is to take buses to Dover, then a ferry to France, and then drive another three to four hours to get to Paris."

After Eurostar suspended all services on Tuesday, many travellers have been left stranded.

One passenger told us that staff have been "as confused as the customers" - and that she's now facing New Year's Eve home alone.

Nicky Schiller
Reporting from St Pancras

I was wondering what Eurostar might do with the trains that left earlier before the power issue. Now I have an answer.

I just saw passengers coming through the arrivals door here at St Pancras.

I grabbed a word with a few of them who said they had been stuck on board for about three hours. They had been heading for Amsterdam.

Now they are back in London, wondering what to do next.

Train traffic will "gradually resume" this afternoon, says the company which operates the Channel Tunnel in a new update.

"An incident related to the power supply to trains occurred last night in part of the Channel Tunnel, affecting train and shuttle traffic. A technical intervention is required, which is currently underway," says the update.

It says that while "the service is temporarily suspended in both directions. Traffic is expected to resume gradually around 15:00 CET" (14:00 GMT).

"Our teams are working to restore the situation as quickly as possible," the statement adds. "Waiting times will be adjusted throughout the day."

As a reminder, Eurostar earlier said that all services were suspended "until further notice" and urged passengers not to travel. Le Shuttle, which takes vehicles and passengers, has warned of long delays.

A day before New Year's Eve, travellers in the UK and mainland Europe are facing cancelled journeys and disruption due to "major disruption" in the Channel Tunnel. Here's the latest:

• Eurostar says it has cancelled all trains, with staff advising passengers to re-book for another day
• It earlier said "a problem with the overhead power supply in the Channel Tunnel" was causing delays and cancellations

• Eurostar also reported a "failed LeShuttle train" - this is the service which takes road vehicles on trains across the Channel
• LeShuttle is reporting delays, with long queues of cars seen at the Eurotunnel entry point in Folkestone, Kent
• At St Pancras in London, crowds are still waiting at departures lounges. "Everyone's a bit stressed" say two Australian tourists who've had to scramble to book onto trains tomorrow
• Meanwhile, a couple waiting in their car in Calais say they've "not had any updates" - but have been killing time by taking their dog for a walk

Alex Emery
BBC News

Image source, Ben Clark

Ben Clark has been stuck on board a LeShuttle in Calais with his wife Marion and three daughters aged five, three, and two for three hours.

The family are on their way back to Bedfordshire after spending Christmas in the Alps.

"The first two and a half hours weren’t too bad but the girls have got restless in the last half an hour so we’ve let them round around the boarding carriage to burn off some energy," Ben tells us.

"Some people are getting angry but there’s nothing that can be done, others are sleeping in their cars.

"We have used up our snacks and now have no plan B or C."

Image source, Ben Clark

We've just had this statement from Eurostar, which operates trains through the Channel Tunnel.

"Eurostar services to and from London are suspended until further notice due to overhead power supply issues in the Channel Tunnel, followed by a failed LeShuttle train," it says.

"We advise our customers to re-book their journey for another day, with free exchanges available.

"We apologise for the disruption and will continue to keep customers updated with the latest information."

Jacob Phillips
Reporting from St Pancras

Harry Baines was due to celebrate his 18th birthday in Paris - but now his four-day trip to France seems unlikely to happen.

"Knowing I was going on holiday for my birthday was a great way to end the year for me," he says.

“Now I’m thinking ‘what’s the point’. I have basically wasted the whole start of my day coming here."

Harry was travelling with his father, Martyn Baines, from Woolwich in south London. The pair had arrived at 10:00 GMT to catch the 12:30 service to Paris.

"I think we’ve made the decision that we won’t get there now," Martyn says. "There are no trains now and there’s no trains tomorrow."

• Although Eurostar has cancelled trains today, we are yet to hear about tomorrow's services - although some passengers earlier said they were being booked up fast

As pictured in our previous post, National Highways has warned there are up to 45-minute delays on the M20 near the LeShuttle terminal in Folkestone.

It says disruption is centred around the eastbound exit slip road to the Channel Tunnel vehicle terminal.