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Eurostar has cancelled all trains out of London towards Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels until further notice after a power outage in the Channel Tunnel caused a Le Shuttle train to fail.

Staff at London St Pancras International station have told Eurostar passengers to postpone their travel plans and re-book for a later date.

By midday, at least a dozen Eurostar services between the UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands had been cancelled – many more had also been delayed or altered.

Train traffic will “gradually resume” this afternoon, according to the company which operates the Channel Tunnel.

Elsewhere, Eurotunnel service Le Shuttle – which carries road vehicles and passengers through the tunnel – has also suspended trains between Folkestone and Calais due to what it described as a “power supply issue” which occurred overnight.

National Rail said the major disruption is expected to last until further notice.

Eurostar said: “Services to and from London are suspended until further notice due to overhead power supply issues in the Channel Tunnel, followed by a failed Le Shuttle train.

“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.”

According to Eurostar, passengers can rearrange their plans free of charge or can cancel their booking and get a refund or an e-voucher.

The broken Le Shuttle train has been moved out of the Channel Tunnel and Eurotunnel expects to resume services around 15:00 CET (14:00 GMT).

“Our teams are working to restore the situation as quickly as possible,” Le Shuttle said in a statement.

“Waiting times will be adjusted throughout the day. Eurotunnel apologises for the inconvenience and thanks its customers for their patience and understanding.”

On its website Le Shuttle says check-in and border control services are experiencing lengthy delays.

Ben Clark, from Bedfordshire, told the BBC he has been stuck on-board Le Shuttle in Calais with his wife and three daughters since 10:00 local time (09:00 GMT).

“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 run around the boarding carriage to burn off some energy,” he said.

“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.”

On the UK side at Folkestone, Le Shuttle said there is a delay of around three-and-a-half hours to the booked departure time.

Matthew Webber, from Suffolk, said he has been stuck for hours and is unclear whether he and his group will be able to continue their journey.

“Not a lot of information being given out which is poor,” he told the BBC.

“Lots of queues and everyone is waiting to get on the Tunnel. The conditions are very busy and people are leaving to get a ferry.”

At the Calais terminal in France the delay is currently around three hours.

Steph Roberts, from Ashford, Kent, told the BBC she has been stuck at the Calais terminal with her husband Robert and bulldog Dempsey since 10:30.

She had spent two weeks in France seeing her parents and family over Christmas.

Ms Roberts said: “We’ve not had any updates or been given any food or water.

“We’ve just been spending the time going through social media and reading magazines. I’ve also gone out to take the dog for a couple of walks.”

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French right-wing figure Éric Ciotti has called for a national tribute to honour film legend Brigitte Bardot, prompting objections from political opponents on the left.

“France has a duty to honour its Marianne,” said Ciotti, referring to the emblem of French liberty whose face Bardot was chosen to represent in the 1960s.

Bardot died on Sunday aged 91. A petition launched by Ciotti since has attracted more than 23,000 signatures, and has the backing of some allies on the far right.

But Socialist leader Olivier Faure has pointed out that national homages are for “exceptional services to the nation”. Bardot was an iconic actress but she also “turned her back on republican values”, Faure argued.

Bardot has been hailed by President Emmanuel Macron as a “legend of the century” who embodied a life of freedom, and Ciotti, who leads the right-wing UDR party, has appealed to him to organise a national send-off.

Ciotti said France should recognise a woman who brought her country an extraordinary level of international recognition and actively helped in the fight for women’s liberty and abortion rights.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, has announced that his city will name an “iconic site” in Bardot’s honour.

But Bardot is destined to remain controversial in death as she was during her life. Faure pointed out that she had been convicted five times for inciting racial hatred.

Bardot starred in some 50 films, after bursting on to the scene in And God Created Woman in 1956.

She then left the world of cinema in 1973 for a life devoted to animal welfare, and lived for decades in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera, at her home called La Madrague.

But she became as well known for her far-right sympathies as she was for her love of animals. Some of her remarks targeted Muslims, and others insulted the people of the French Indian Ocean island of Réunion.

“To be moved by the plight of dolphins and yet be indifferent to the deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean – what degree of cynicism is that?” asked Green MP Sandrine Rousseau on social media.

There are differing types of national tribute in France.

Robert Badinter, who abolished the death penalty in France, was honoured with a national homage in the form of a solemn ceremony in 2024, as was singer Charles Aznavour in 2018.

A more likely option for Bardot would be along the lines of the public farewell given to rock star Johnny Hallyday, when large crowds lined the streets of Paris in 2017.

Not everyone on the left is opposed to the idea of a national homage to Bardot.

“Why not? We’ve done it for other figures, particularly Johnny Hallyday,” Socialist MP Philippe Brun told French radio. “If the president of the republic decides on it, I don’t see why we should oppose it.”

Bardot herself had shunned the limelight for decades and close friend Wendy Bouchard said she was not remotely interested in medals and ceremonies.

“It probably comes from a good place, but I’m not sure that she, who lived a life of simplicity and deprivation, would have wanted this national homage,” she told French TV.

Journalist Steven Bellery, who interviewed Bardot earlier this year, agreed she wanted something far more simple and intimate.

Bardot had asked to be buried at her Riviera home at La Madrague, rather than in a public cemetery, where she feared “a crowd of idiots might damage the graves of my parents and grandparents”.

However, the town hall in Saint-Tropez has said she will have a private burial in the public cemetery that overlooks the Mediterranean as well as her home.

The Brigitte Bardot Foundation, which is dedicated to animal welfare, says her funeral will take place on 7 January at the Notre-Dame de l’Assomption church and will be broadcast on screens across the town.