NETWORK RAIL has announced that it will close the West Coast Main Line to all traffic between Preston and Penrith for two hours from 19.00 this evening. A spokesman said winds in the area are already reaching 140km/h (90mph) and that the line would close in case overhead lines were damaged. There is also a risk from flying debris.

Lines in north and west Wales have already been closed in reaction to the weather and others have speed restrictions.

Meanwhile a train is reported to have collided with a tree near Bracknell, among a number of similar incidents, and Network Rail is advising passengers to 'avoid Paddington', as a combination of river flooding and rising groundwater continues to hamper services between London, Reading and Oxford.

Only four or five trains an hour are able to run on the Great Western Main Line through Maidenhead, which normally sees more than twice that number, because signalling equipment has been swamped.
 
Network Rail managing director, network operations, Robin Gisby said parts of southern England now resemble 'an inland sea', and that Network Rail engineers are monitoring hundreds of potentially vulnerable locations.
 
Delays are also continuing in many other places, and forecasters are warning that wind speeds are set to strengthen almost everywhere, with the possibility of 150km/h + gusts in west and north Wales and exposed places in northern England.
 
Virgin Trains withdrew its services between Bangor and Holyhead at 14.00 as the storm approached, and there are speed restrictions on other lines in North Wales. Also in Wales there are widespread speed restrictions and the train service is suspended between Fernhill and Aberdare because of flooding at Cwmbach. Services have been suspended since around 14.00 on most lines in west Wales, affecting Barmouth, Aberystwyth, Llanelli - Shrewsbury via the Heart of Wales route and stations west of Llanelli. There are also delays between Cardiff and Pontyclun because of a tree on the line at Pontyclun.

In the south west, the Bristol to Taunton route remains blocked by more than a kilometre of flooded track at Bridgwater, while there may be no trains running through Dawlish before April, following the major tidal damage to the sea wall and main line a few days ago. A row of 11 shipping containers filled with sand and stone has been created by welding them together to form a new temporary sea wall, while scaffolding is currently being erected to give workers better access to begin repairs. All lines west of Exeter are also affected today by a blanket emergency speed restriction of 50mph, again because of high winds.