Storm Claudia is causing hundreds of train cancellations across the UK. The Met Office has issued amber warnings for rain across a swathe of England and Wales, north of a line between Cambridge and Cardiff as far as Lincolnshire, the Midlands and mid-Wales.
In addition, yellow warnings for wind and rain cover much of Britain south of Lancashire and the Humber.
Most Northern services are likely to be “severely disrupted” with no rail replacement buses. The rail firm says “avoid travelling if you can”.
Rail passengers face widespread delays and cancellations across the network on Friday, possibly extending into the weekend, due to a combination of speed restrictions and flooding.
Avanti West Coast is telling passengers: “We’re running a reduced timetable further to speed restrictions applied by Network Rail. Fewer trains will run and journeys will take longer.”
The train operator, which connects London Euston with the West Midlands, northwest England, north Wales and southern Scotland, has cancelled dozens of trains – mostly linking London with Birmingham and Manchester.
Avanti is warning passengers of “a risk of further disruption on the rail network due to this extreme weather, especially in the North West.”
TransPennine Express warns passengers that many trains may not run after 1pm today. Tickets for this afternoon and evening can be used on any of the rail firm’s trains this morning, or at any time over the weekend.
East Midlands Railway has cancelled all westbound trains running across the Pennines from Sheffield to Liverpool Lime Street due to depart after 10.45am. Eastbound trains from Liverpool Lime Street to Sheffield will be axed from 1pm onwards.
CrossCountry and Chiltern Railways are both halving frequencies on key routes: CrossCountry between Birmingham and Manchester after 1pm, and Chiltern to and from London Marylebone.
In Devon, the Great Western line from Exeter to Barnstaple is closed due to flooding “until Sunday at least”. Replacement taxis and coaches are being provided.
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