The railway must prepare for increasing hazards as a result of climate change. The warning has come from the Met Office, three days before the start of ‘meteorological’ winter on Monday. The weather service says British winters are becoming generally wetter, meaning that storms, floods and landslides are becoming more likely.

The freeze on regulated National Rail fares in England until March 2027 will have cost 775 million pounds by 2030-31, according to the Treasury.