Scots hit with ‘do not travel warning’ as flooding blocks major rail route

THOUSANDS of Scots are facing travel chaos as a major rail line has been closed due to heavy flooding.

A number of services between Scotland and England have been affected this morning, with passengers being urged not to travel today.

It comes as the Met Office issued multiple yellow weather warnings for rain across the country that are due to last until 6pm tonight.

A “month’s worth of rain” was expected to fall in less than 24 hours, sparking a widespread washout.

Now, the weather has caused ‘significant disruption’ on the West Coast Main Line with flooding between Carlisle and Lockerbie blocking the route.

Operators affected include Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express, ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper.

Disruption is expected to continue for the rest of the day.

ScotRail services between Carlisle and Glasgow Central are expected to start/terminate at Dumfries.

Avanti West Coast told passengers: “Please do not attempt to travel with us between Preston and Scotland.

“We’re really sorry if this affects your journey today.”

The company told ticketholders they can travel with other operators such as LNER on the East Coast Main Line, postpone their journey or request a refund.

TransPennine Express commercial director Darren Higgins said: “Due to flooding on the railway line north of Carlisle, train services are significantly disrupted.

“The safety of our customers and colleagues is our priority and we are urging customers not to travel between Manchester, Liverpool (or) Preston to Carlisle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

“Anyone planning on travelling by train today can choose to defer their travel or claim a refund.”

Two yellow warnings for rain are still in place today – and they cover the whole of Scotland.

The alert over western parts of the country in Argyll and Bute and the Orkney Islands will end at 10am this morning.

For the rest of the country, the warning is still in place until 6pm tonight.

And ScotRail warned there are safety restrictions in place on some of their services until 7pm.