The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word UPSETS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
U
P
S
E
T
S
More clues leading to the result UPSETS
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "disturbances" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case disturbances = upsets.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does UPSETS mean?
UPSETS noun- Disturbance or disruption.
- An unexpected victory of a competitor or candidate that was not favored to win.
- (automobile insurance) An overturn.
- An upset stomach.
- An upper set; a subset (X,≤) of a partially ordered set with the property that, if x is in U and x≤y, then y is in U.
- The dangerous situation where the flight attitude or airspeed of an aircraft is outside the designed bounds of operation, possibly resulting in loss of control.
- To make (a person) angry, distressed, or unhappy.
- To disturb, disrupt or adversely alter (something).
- To tip or overturn (something).
- To defeat unexpectedly.
- To be upset or knocked over.
- To set up; to put upright.
- To thicken and shorten, as a heated piece of iron, by hammering on the end.
- To shorten (a tire) in the process of resetting, originally by cutting it and hammering on the ends.