Be careful if you’re traveling to the United Kingdom: Eurostar trains to and from London canceled due to strike

The strike, called by French unions, “led to a complete interruption of service and the closure of our terminals in France and the United Kingdom,” Eurotunnel’s parent company Getlink – said in a statement.

“The trade union organizations rejected the exceptional bonus of 1,000 euros announced by the management at the end of the year and called for a strike demanding to triple it,” the management continued.

The cancellation of afternoon trains from St-Pancras station in London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam caused panic among passengers, an AFP reporter at the scene said. Many travelers who had planned to return to France or Belgium for the holidays rushed to their phones to change tickets for the next day or quickly book one of the flights still available from the British capital.

Reception and security agents at the station – who seemed equally caught off guard – had already passed security checks and had to remove passengers from the platform, they told passengers in the lobby.