Mass train cancellations as Britons urged to stay indoors and not drive

Network Rail said 50mph speed restrictions will be imposed across most routes as a precautionary safety measure.

Meanwhile, services in Scotland are being cancelled this evening due to high winds.

A spokesperson from Network Rail said: “Passengers are being strongly advised to check before travelling this afternoon and this evening as Storm Isha will bring travel disruption to the railway across the country.

“As a precautionary safety measure, Network Rail will be introducing blanket 50mph speed restrictions across most routes from later this afternoon and this evening through to the early hours of the morning as the worst of the storm tracks across the UK.

“This measure keeps passengers and trains safe from falling trees and debris blown onto the track but does result in fewer services with elongated journey times (usual top line speeds vary from 80mph-125mph). Specific travel advice can be found on train operator websites.

“It’s likely that travel disruption will continue into Monday morning as engineers finish the clean-up operation removing fallen trees and debris and running ‘ghost trains’ to ensure lines are clear before allowing passenger trains to restart.”

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Meanwhile in Scotland, Scotrail has confirmed that all services across the country will be suspended from 7pm tonight.

A spokesperson added that there will be no rush hour services on Monday morning, as the extreme weather from Storm Isha arrives.

In addition, all services before then between Helensburgh and Edinburgh will start/terminate at Dumbarton Central.

Elsewhere, a dozen flights operated by foreign airlines in and out of London Heathrow have been cancelled. KLM and Aer Lingus have grounded flights from Amsterdam and Dublin respectively.

A spokesperson from Avanti West Coast, which runs trains out of London Euston said: “Due to the severe weather forecast with Storm Isha, speed restrictions are in place across all our routes on Sunday, January 21.

“We’re also operating a reduced timetable – with the last trains of the day departing at 16:00. As a result, we strongly advise customers do not travel unless absolutely necessary.”

Two amber wind alerts were put in place by the Met Office across large parts of the country for Sunday and are expected to remain in place until Monday.