East Midlands Railway (EMR) has warned customers not to travel on its trains on Friday (February 18) as the UK prepares for the arrival of Storm Eunice.
The Met Office has issued a rare red weather warning for parts of the UK on Friday and said there could be “flying debris resulting in danger to life”.
With many roads and bridges likely to close and trees likely to collapse on Friday, EMR said this could cause "significant disruption" across the railway network and trains will be required to travel much slower.
There will also be significantly fewer trains on some routes and journey times will be significantly increased - with some journeys taking up to twice as long to complete.
Matt Stacey, head of stations at EMR, said he "strongly advised" people not to travel at all.
He said: "As the storm strength and potential impact becomes clearer, we are now strongly advising customers to not travel at all tomorrow.
"We also urge customers to try and complete their journeys today - if possible.
"The strength of Storm Eunice will mean that, on Friday, there is likely to be widespread disruption to services across the country’s rail network.
"If customers absolutely need to travel we suggest they check our website for the latest information before setting off. They should also leave themselves plenty of extra time to reach their destination."
Customers with tickets for Friday and are not travelling can claim a refund. For those who must travel, they are urged to visit the EMR website for information.
On Wednesday (February 16), EMR warned passengers of 'major disruption' caused in the wake of Storm Dudley.
On the day, services operating from London to Nottingham/Sheffield faced disruption, with damage to the overhead electric wires near Luton.
In the evening, EMR said a tree which had caught fire had closed all lines south of Luton.
Storm Eunice is expected to bring winds of up to 70mph in Nottingham on Friday.
The red weather warning has been issued along the coastline of Devon and Cornwall as well as the south coast of Wales due to extremely strong winds.
Meanwhile, an amber warning remains in place for most of England - including Nottinghamshire - and all of Wales as Storm Eunice arrives on our shores from Friday morning.
The warnings are in place all day Friday until 9pm.
It comes after Strom Dudley resulted in a number of fallen trees in Wollaton and Ruddington, as well as in Mansfield.
Thousands of homes were left without power after Storm Dudley swept through parts of the UK.
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