Some train services are still disrupted today after a weekend of wild weather which caused damage to railways in many places, as Storm Darragh swept across Britain. The Met Office issued a rare ‘red’ warning for South Wales and the Bristol Channel on Saturday, which meant the weather posed a threat to life.

Many trains were cancelled or delayed as the strong winds brought down trees across the railway. These sometimes pulled down overhead lines, while heavy rain in some places flooded the track. Network Rail said its engineers had removed hundreds of fallen trees on the Wales & Borders route alone, while many objects, such as fencing panels, were also blown on to the track. Most Welsh routes were closed at the height of the storm on Saturday.

Operators appealed to passengers to only attempt essential journeys over the weekend, and some warned against trying to travel at all. Where trains still ran, timetables were often reduced. Chiltern cut back its services to one train an hour, and all Great Western Railway trains were cancelled in Cornwall. There were also no trains on the lines to Barnstaple and Okehampton in Devon.

A fallen tree at Outwood damaged the overhead wires between Leeds and Wakefield Westgate, while trees blocked the line between Wolverhampton and Stafford and also at Lowdham, disrupting East Midlands Railway services between Nottingham and Newark Castle. There were similar problems on some Greater Anglia routes, where more fallen trees were reported between Lakenheath and Shippea Hill, and on some lines around Ely.

Trains were delayed by speed restrictions between Tamworth and Nuneaton because of a landslip. CrossCountry suspended its services from Birmingham New Street to Plymouth, Cardiff Central and Manchester Piccadilly.

Also in Birmingham, West Midlands Railway cancelled all trains on the Cross City South line, and fallen trees blocked the line at various places between Birmingham New Street, Longbridge and Redditch. There were no trains from Birmingham to Chester or Shrewsbury, or from Bidston to Wrexham Central.

Further north, high winds meant that speed restrictions were necessary between Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and all trains were cancelled between Middlesbrough and Whitby.

In south east England trees blocked the lines between Frimley and Camberley, and between Guildford and Effingham Junction, while a ‘precarious tree’ was reported at Liphook.

Westbury, Chippenham and Worcester Shrub Hill stations were closed because their roofs had been damaged by the wind.

Network Rail says damage to overhead wires at Polesworth is still being repaired this morning, and some early trains between London and Scotland may be delayed or cancelled. There will be no trains today between Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford, because engineers are working to remove a large fallen tree and repair the damage it caused, while trains are unlikely to be restored between Swansea and Carmarthen before midday. Routes in mid- and North Wales will also remain closed today, and trains will be cancelled between Bromsgrove, Redditch, Birmingham New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley while overhead lines are repaired.

In Devon and Cornwall, services are not expected to start between Exeter St Davids and Barnstaple until about 09.45, between St Erth and St Ives until about 11.00, Liskeard and Looe until about 11.30, and between Plymouth and Gunnislake until about 13.00. Trains on the Par to Newquay line are still being replaced by buses because of unrelated engineering work.

Network Rail's West Coast South route director Gary Walsh said: ‘This weekend, Storm Darragh wreaked havoc on the railway. We've got teams working up and down the West Coast Main Line removing debris that’s causing obstructions.

‘We apologise to passengers that there are no train services between Stafford and Stoke while complex repairs to our overhead line equipment are made on this critical part of the West Coast Main Line.’