THOUSANDS of rush hour trains have been cancelled in the south east of England as a result of the overnight storm. Several trains checking the track for blockages have collided with fallen trees. One such collision in Devon left the train involved unable to move, while a landslip has blocked a line in Hampshire.

Fallen trees have blocked the railways in more than 100 other places, and many operators are asking their customers not to attempt to travel until the situation improves.

Predictions of the overnight storm led to some operators scaling down their services last night in preparation for disruption.

There are only a few trains on some lines, including those into London Waterloo and London Euston. Domestic services at St Pancras International have also been hit, although Eurostar is now reporting a good service.

Some operators have suspended all their services on various sections of route until lines can be cleared. Most operators are affected to some extent, apart from those in the north of England, Scotland and Wales.

The situation is fluid, but at 09.00 First Capital Connect, Southern and c2c said that they had cancelled all their trains for the time being, while South West Trains was reporting a 'significantly reduced service'. Greater Anglia said it did not expect to run any services until midday. c2c said it had been affected by overhead wire damage in several places, as well as lines blocked by debris.

First Great Western said it was not running any services for the time being on the Thames Valley branches to Greenford, Marlow and Henley, nor between Reading and Basingstoke.

In many cases it has not been possible to provide alternative buses, because of conditions on the roads.

Network Rail's network operations managing director Robin Gisby said: "While conditions were as forecast during the early part of the morning, the damage caused by the storm has been more severe than expected as it has tracked eastwards to the north of London and across to East Anglia. As a result, the West Coast, East Coast and Midland main lines are all currently blocked at their southern ends as a result of fallen trees and damage to power lines and all services are currently suspended on the Anglia route.

“South of London, we are hopeful that services will begin to resume from around 09.00 once we have been able to clear routes of trees and other obstructions. At the latest count we have had more than 100 trees down across the southern half of the country and we expect to find more as we complete our safety checks this morning."