London Euston Delays: Passengers forced to sleep on station floor amid travel chaos

Passengers attending Cop26 were forced to find alternative travel routes to Glasgow

Passengers wait in Euston Station after trains were cancelled ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) (REUTERS)

Travel chaos at London Euston station has left hundreds of passengers stranded with some attempting to sleep on the floor.

Extreme weather through the weekend led to trees falling on the tracks cancelling journeys and delaying others including train journeys to Glasgow for the Cop26 summit on Sunday.

In an update on Sunday night, London Euston warned of further delays into Monday as trains and crews return to their correction locations.

Passengers attempt to sleep on the floor at London Euston (PA)

“Many trains and their crews are not in their correct locations tonight after today’s extreme weather. This means disruption to train services is likely to affect passengers travelling early tomorrow (Monday) on main lines north of London,” the statement read.

The delays have left hundreds stuck in the London station with passengers taking to social media to request updates on delayed trains. Pictures of passengers attempting to sleep on the station floor have also been circulating online while travellers to the Cop26 summit have been forced to book flights to Glasgow.

David Johnson, attending Cop26 as chief executive of the Margaret Pyke Trust - a UK-based international non-governmental organisation - acknowledged flying from Gatwick “does, of course, seem ridiculous”.

“The irony of the climate impacting the trains, meaning a flight to the climate change conference is the only way to get there today, is not lost on me,” he added.

Passengers travelling on South Western, Avanti and London Northwestern trains are still facing delays after a fallen tree caused damage to some 25,000-volt electric lines earlier.

Earlier on Sunday, the south and east of England were battered by heavy rain and gusts of up to 80mph. Gusts of 87mph (140km/h) were recorded on the Isle of Portland in Dorset while gusts of 60mph (96km/h) were recorded across Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and Sussex, according to the Met Office.

Climate change scientist Simon Lewis has been stuck on a train for more than three hours as a result of the disruption.

The University College London professor was on the 11am service to Edinburgh, which stopped 45 minutes after departure and had not made it to the next stop for more than several hours.

He said: “This is inconvenient and a reminder that climate change drives extreme weather events and every country needs to adapt.”

According to London Euston and Avanti West Coast, disruptions have been cleared and trains are starting to move again but with “residual delays.”