Storm Doris forces London Euston station to suspend rail services as winds reach 94mph

When services do resume they will be 'heavily impacted' by delays and cancellations

All trains from London Euston station have been suspended because of Storm Doris.

Station staff have said some services, on the Underground and on London Midland, will resume "shortly", but that the overland trains will be "heavily impacted" by delays and cancellations.

Virgin Trains advised all its passengers to put off travelling until tomorrow. Customers can get a full refund, the operator said.

Rail passengers across the country are seeing their journeys disrupted because of the weather, National Rail said. The electricity supply at Liverpool Lime Street has failed, as has power between Crewe and Warrington Bank Quay.

High winds are affecting the Southeastern network and an object has fallen onto the track at Broadstairs, blocking all lines. A similar incident has occurred at West Wickham.

The storm has wreaked havoc across Britain and brought gusts of almost 95mph.

Branded a "weather bomb" by the Met Office, Doris has brought down trees, forced the closure of the port of Liverpool and caused the cancellation of Coronation Street filming.

A top wind speed of 94mph was recorded in Capel Curig, North Wales, as Doris rolled in, with 82mph also clocked in Aberdaron, North Wales, the Met Office said.

Senior meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said the storm will bring "very strong winds and gales", and that the centre of Doris will "track out to the North Sea at around lunchtime".

He added: "The whole system will still be over the UK, right through the afternoon. The winds then will start to ease from the west through this evening."

Amber warnings predicting strong winds and heavy rain are in place for North Wales, the Midlands, the East and the North West and have been extended to include the London area.

The Met Office said gusts of 60mph to 70mph were likely to be seen in affected areas, with 70mph to 80mph expected on coasts and hills.

As Doris hit, Peel Ports in Liverpool announced on Twitter the city's port had been closed due to "100mph gusts of wind".

The company said: "All operations are stood down for the safety of our employees, contractors and customers of the port."

National Rail advised that fallen trees, objects caught in overhead wires, heavy rain, flooding and debris on tracks were causing delays to a number of services across the country.

Highways England also closed the QE2 Bridge over the Thames at Dartford, the Orwell Bridge on the A14 in Suffolk and the M48 Severn Bridge, due to strong winds.

Issuing a weather alert for major roads, the body said high-sided vehicles, caravans and motorbikes were at risk of particularly at risk, and "strongly advised" drivers to avoid travelling on some stretches of road in Yorkshire, the Midlands, the East and the North West.

Outdoor filming for Manchester-based Coronation Street was also brought to a halt as Doris paid a visit to the cobbled set.

A spokeswoman for the ITV soap said affected scenes would be rescheduled.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service said crews were called to help free a man trapped when a tree fell on his van on the A374 between Antony and Sheviock.

The service said firefighters used "winches and crash rescue equipment" to release him.

In Scotland the M80 was closed in both directions, owing to snowfall, before it was reopened at around 12pm.

Up to 15cm of snow is expected across parts of Scotland and north-east England, bringing treacherous, blizzard-like conditions.

Weather warnings have also been upgraded to amber across Scotland's central belt, the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Tayside and Fife.

In Aberdeenshire, some schools have been closed due to the weather, while some school transport is not operating.

All school transport in the Borders has been cancelled for the day as heavy and widespread snow is forecast across much of the area.

Ferry services have also been affected by the weather, with Caledonian MacBrayne warning of disruption on some west coast routes.

Elsewhere, the snow gates have been closed in both directions on the Banchory to Fettercairn route, while Traffic Scotland warned of high winds on the Tay Road Bridge and the Erskine Bridge.

And in Ireland almost 46,000 households woke up without electricity after violent gusts battered large swathes of the country throughout the night.

Storm Doris was branded a "weather bomb" after the system underwent "explosive cyclogenesis", the Met Office said.

"Storm Doris is still Storm Doris, it does not mean it is necessarily any more severe than we had forecast already," a spokesman said.

Additional reporting by agencies