Chiltern Railways has announced that train services will be heavily reduced on Friday, with the few trains running expected to be much busier than normal.

The Birmingham Moor Street to London route will be limited to one train per hour in each direction, and there will be no services north of Birmingham Moor Street or to Stratford-upon-Avon.

Denise Wetton, route director for Network Rail Central route, said: “We are doing everything we can to prepare for the impact of this extreme weather.”

Tony Baxter, operations director at CR, said: “Heavy rainfall is expected on our route on Friday, which can cause flooding, blockages and damage to the railway.”

Avanti West Coast also posted, external that it would be running a reduced timetable because of speed restrictions applied by Network Rail and said: “Fewer trains will run and journeys will take longer.”