Travellers heading to the COP26 climate summit have resorted to taking domestic flights after a fallen tree caused major disruption on the railways.
A number of trains between the London Euston and Glasgow were cancelled following damage to overhead electrical wires between Rugby and Milton Keynes.
Shortly before 2pm an announcement was made saying all train services had been suspended and the concourse was ‘exit only’ due to overcrowding.
Passengers were well aware of the irony of being delayed by extreme weather as they scrambled to get to get to the start of the UN climate talks today.
Many were caught on slow moving or stationary trains, while others were forced to book carbon-heavy domestic flights to reach the summit.
Among the summit attendees stranded in London was David Johnson, CEO of the Margaret Pyke Trust, which works to make family planning easier in order to tackle climate change.
Mr Johnson sat on his train from London Euston to Glasgow for more than half an hour before being told to get off by staff.
Eventually he decided to book a flight from Gatwick Airport, acknowledging it ‘does of course, seem ridiculous’.
He added: ‘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.’
The tree toppling on the tracks comes amid a spate of terrible weather sweeping the UK.
The Met Office said parts of the country may have even seen tornadoes in recent days, while some areas have been hit by flooding.
More rain and wind is expected into the start of the week, with 11 flood warnings and 74 flood alerts in place in England.
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