Updated 10.10, 11.50, 12.45

Rail passengers are being warned of possible disruption today in many parts of England and Wales as Storm Claudia brings heavy rain and high winds.

An amber rain warning is in force in the south and Midlands between Peterborough and Cardiff, and less severe yellow warnings have been issued for East Anglia, much of southern England, and into the south west as far as Exeter.

There are amber warnings of high winds in most of Wales and across the North between Manchester and Hull. Network Rail has announced that signalling will be disconnected at Rotherham Central and that the station will be closed to trains and trams until tomorrow, because of the risk of flooding from the River Don.

Chiltern Railways has reduced its services today, and there will be no Chiltern trains north of Birmingham, nor to Stratford-upon-Avon.

Other operators who are reducing or cancelling services on some sections of their networks include Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, Northern, TransPennine Express, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Trains.

Blanket speed restrictions were in force on parts of ScotRail after heavy rain in the central belt and parts of the Highlands. ScotRail services have now returned to normal except between Crianlarich and Fort William, where buses are replacing trains because of engineering work.

GWR services are not running between Hereford and Great Malvern, and it has warned of possible disruption elsewhere, while Barnstaple line trains have been replaced with buses and taxis after water reached flood markers on some bridges and viaducts.

GWR operations director Richard Rowlands said: ‘With severe weather forecast, we encourage customers to check the latest travel information before setting out and allow extra time for your journeys.

‘We will continue to run services, but some disruption is possible if conditions worsen throughout the day. For longer journeys, we recommend checking both outward and return travel times, as conditions may change.

‘Our teams are monitoring the situation closely and working to keep passengers moving as safely as possible. This does however mean that it is possible some parts of the network may become unavailable for short periods, and road conditions may prevent us being able to operate replacement buses.’

Network Rail’s Western route director Marcus Jones said: ‘We’re doing everything we can to prepare the railway for the arrival of Storm Claudia and will have extra staff at key locations across the network, ready to respond if they’re required.’

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