Storm Isha: Rail disruption between Shrewsbury and Birmingham as police urge drivers to 'slow down' on the roads
Engineers were forced to carry out an inspection on the railway line between Shrewsbury and Birmingham New Street on Monday morning, meaning there were delays from the word go.
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Thanks to Storm Isha bringing powerful winds to the region, fallen trees and damage to buildings was likely and the lines had to be inspected before trains could run smoothly.
It comes after Avanti West Coast warned of changes and delays on Monday following the bad weather.
West Midlands Police also released an image of a Mercedes they said was driving far too quick for the "poor weather conditions".
The driver lost control at around junction 9 of the M6 southbound and wrote off his car but fortunately only suffered minor injuries.
On Sunday, a main road near Oswestry was closed and an amber weather warning was issued as the region braced itself for high winds and heavy rain.
Some parts of the country were expecting winds of at least 80mph with the Met Office risking of possible injuries and threat to life.
The viaducts carrying the A483 over the Rivers Ceiriog and Dee between Gledrid and Ruabon, on the Shropshire-Wales border, were shut for safety reasons on Sunday morning.
They were not scheduled to reopen until 6am on Monday due to expected high winds. The official diversion route was via Llangollen using the A5 and the A539.
Thousands of people across the UK were left without power as Storm Isha brought disruption to the electricity and transport networks.
The entire country was subject to wind warnings issued by the Met Office as gusts topped 90mph in places.
Network Rail imposed 50mph speed restrictions across most routes to keep passengers and trains safe from falling trees and debris blown onto tracks.
In a statement the company said: “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.”
Avanti West Coast warned of changes and delays on Monday and said no passengers should attempt to travel between Preston and Scotland until services are due to resume at 9am.
Meanwhile, air traffic control restrictions were in place, leading to flight cancellations and causing some planes to divert.
The Met Office said Storm Isha – the ninth named storm to hit the UK since the season began in September – is expected to pull away through the day, although it is expected to remain windy with a mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers.
Showers are expected to be heaviest and most frequent in the north and west on Monday, but easing with a dry night except in the north west and winds also easing.
A bright start to Tuesday will see cloud and rain moving in from the west and winds increasing with severe gales possible.
