Part of West Coast Main line closed, affecting travel to Scotland

Services run by Avanti West Coast from London Euston to Glasgow and Edinburgh via Birmingham are affected, as well as trains operated by Northern and TransPennine Express.

Ticket restrictions have been lifted and rail replacement buses will be deployed between Preston and Carlisle.

Passengers were warned that some journeys could take up to two hours longer than normal.

Services run by Avanti West Coast from London Euston to Glasgow and Edinburgh via Birmingham are affected, as well as trains operated by Northern and TransPennine Express.

A speed restriction was implemented for trains in Cumbria and north Lancashire between 5pm on Wednesday and 10am on Thursday due to the wet weather increasing the risk of landslips and flooding.

Several lines in Wales remain closed due to flooding, including Aberdare to Pontypridd; Ebbw Vale Town to Cardiff Central; Abergavenny to Hereford; and Blaenau Ffestiniog to Llandudno.

Network Rail said it is working hard to repair and reopen routes as soon as possible.

London Euston services are also affected by a points failure caused by an accident during overnight engineering work.

The issue caused delays and cancellations to Avanti West Coast and London Northwestern Railway trains on Thursday morning.

Points are mechanical systems that enable trains to switch from one track to another.

A Network Rail spokesman said: "A set of points was accidentally damaged during some engineering work on the approaches to Euston last night.

"This has reduced the number of tracks and platforms we are able to use at Euston this morning and some services have had to be altered or cancelled as a result.

"Passengers travelling to or from Euston today are advised to check before they travel, although we expect the disruption to be quite limited."