Heavy rain and strong winds heaped further misery on travellers across the UK in the 24 hours after a major power cut caused widespread disruption.

Rail passengers were left stranded as flooding forced the closure of the West Coast Mainline between England and Scotland for several hours on Saturday afternoon.

Fallen trees also caused lengthy delays to train services across the country.

Meanwhile ferries heading into Dover were delayed by up to five hours as tug boats battled the weather to bring them into port.

P&O Ferries said adverse weather had disrupted scheduling, and promised to get passengers on the first available vessel.

Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather Show all 8 1 /8 Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather "I stumbled on the firefighter in front of the burning home on the second day of the Camp Fire in a town called Magalia which is about five miles from Paradise, California. There were about five or six homes burning and firefighters were trying to save the houses near to those that were on fire. The heat from the fire was so intense that the firefighter could only stand near the burning building for 10-15 seconds before having to move away" - Justin Sullivan Getty Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather "This was only one of several large-scale forest fires in Brandenburg state in Germany last year, following droughts which left the forests in the region extremely dry. The year set a new record for fires that burned over 400 hectares. As a photojournalist covering the region for over 15 years, I now have to assume either drought or floods will very likely be a part of the news we will be covering every summer" - Sean Gallup Getty Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather "This photograph was taken at a sunflower field at Goersdorf near Golssen in Germany. The farmers in the region are really despairing. In the years before many faced floods, in 2018 it was scorching heat. Many grow crops that are meant to feed their cows, so when the crops fail they need to buy feed. With the price of milk so low many are fearing for their economic survival if weather cycles like this continue" - Sean Gallup Getty Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather "On the third day of the Camp Fire the flames had moved away from the town and were burning in the nearby hills. I captured this photo in Big Bend, as the story was shifting away from the fire itself and focusing on trying to locate missing persons and recover remains of those who had perished" - Justin Sullivan Getty Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather "You can see the Belchatow power plant and the rising steam and smoke from over 20km away. I went there the day before the start of the United Nations’ climate conference in Katowice, which took place in a region where coal has a long history and coal mining is woven into local tradition. Poland has made some strides with renewables, such as with wind turbines that now dot portions of the western Polish countryside. However, given how heavily Poland still relies on coal, it is unlikely that Belchatow will close anytime soon. According to a recent study by the European Commission Belchatow is Europe’s biggest single emitter of CO2" - Sean Gallup Getty Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather "I stayed the night at an alpine hut near the Waxeggkees glacier in Austria. An employee I talked to at night said, sometimes (this was August) she heard the sounds of ice breaking off the glacier and crashing across rocks. 100 years ago the glacier would have filled the photo. Now it takes over an hour to walk up to where the glacier begins" - Sean Gallup, photographer Getty Images Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather "I came across Mr. Helmut Kujat, 78, by chance after I photographed a parched farm nearby. He’s actually pouring the water into a tube that helps to better let the water reach the roots of the tree. He waters the trees in front of his house almost daily throughout spring and summer due to droughts and heat waves" - Sean Gallup Getty Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather "I took this photo about a week after the Camp Fire tore through the town of Paradise, California in November last year. It was the first opportunity to use a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone to view the widespread devastation since the air space around the burn zone had been closed" - Justin Sullivan Getty

One passenger reported floating outside Dover for thee-and-a-half hours along with five other ferries waiting for permission to dock.

“We should have arrived in Dover 11.15am local time but we got off the boat at 4pm,” said Stephen Deadman, from Nottingham.

“It was a quick journey across Channel but we stopped four miles from Dover.”

Mr Deadman, who was returning from Europe with his family after a two-week holiday, added: “At one point there were five boats waiting. The wind was very bad and the captains of the ferry and tug boats did a great job in difficult conditions.”

Drivers were also advised to check routes carefully before they travelled due to thunderstorms, heavy rain and strong winds across England, Wales and Scotland.

Five trains were trapped between Lockerbie and Carlisle when heavy overnight rain caused flooding of the tracks.

Network Rail tweeted images of the rails under water at around midday on Saturday as it confirmed the West Coast Mainline was closed.

The track was reopened – initially with a 5mph speed restriction – a few hours later but passengers were warned their train might be delayed or cancelled.

There was also flooding between Blackburn and Clitheroe, causing blockages to the lines on Saturday evening.

Several other lines were disrupted due to trees on the track, including Ashford International and Hastings, Guildford and Reading, Newbury and Westbury and between Ipswich and Lowestoft.

Network Rail has urged passengers to check for updates before they travel.

Severe weather was also blamed for long delays and dozens of cancellations on flights to and from airports in southeast England.

The latest disruption came after a power cut left almost a million people without electricity as traffic lights were knocked out, trains came to a standstill and aircraft were grounded during rush hour.

Further rain is expected overnight in northern England and Scotland, where a yellow weather warning for rain is in force until 10am on Sunday.

Elsewhere the weather is expected to improve throughout Sunday, with sunny spells and scattered showers forecast for Monday and Tuesday.