Storm Isha: ScotRail suspends all services with delays on East Midlands Railway, Avanti West Coast and LNER routes

Commuters are facing travel disruption after train services across the UK were heavily impacted by the powerful winds brought about by Storm Isha.

Services across the country have been suspended or delays after gusts of up to 90mph in some places were felt overnight. ScotRail confirmed on Sunday (January 21) that all services in Scotland would be cancelled from 7pm that same evening, and would remain suspended through Monday's morning rush hour.

The train company said that services may not begin until "later on Monday", stating that teams will only be inspecting lines and implementing recovery works where needed during daylight. Network Rail Scotland added that "reopening Scotland's Railway is going to be a challenge", with all routes only reopening once they have been inspected.

Likewise, LNER confirmed that no services will travel beyond Newcastle until at least midday on Monday. Avanti West Coast also warned customers of delays and cancellations, telling customers not to attempt travel between Preston and Scotland until services resume at 9am.

Disruption has also been felt on East Midlands Railway services. The railway said that services were "likely" to be delayed or altered as a result of the weather.

Network Rail imposed a 50mph seed limit across most routes to keep customers and carriages safe from falling debris. A statement read: "It’s likely that travel disruption will continue into Monday morning as engineers finish the clean-up operation removing fallen trees and debris and running ‘ghost trains’ to ensure lines are clear before allowing passenger trains to restart.”

The stormy conditions of Isha have also impacted roads. High winds forced the closure of main routes to high-sided vehicles, including the Tay Road Bridge in Scotland. Other closures for high-sided vehicles included the M48 Severn Bridge and the A66 in Durham and Cumbria between the A1(M) and the M6, Humber Bridge, A19 Tees Flyover and A628 Woodhead Pass in Derbyshire.

The worst of the storm is set to pass by Monday morning, with winds calming down from then onwards. However, disruption is likely to be felt across the travel network for some time after.