Britain faces flood misery: Chaos as rail tracks are hit by floodwater with dozens of areas at risk - as Met Office issues yellow rain warning

Flooding caused havoc on Britain's railways today amid 'do not travel' warnings for passengers as 250 areas were put on alert with nearly three inches of rain set to fall.

The Environment Agency issued 69 warnings where flooding is expected - mainly in Dorset, Somerset and the Midlands - and a further 182 alerts for possible flooding.

The Met Office issued a yellow warning for rain for North East England until 9am this morning with a further warning for ice across the far north of Scotland until 11am.

Train passengers trying to travel between Newcastle and Edinburgh faced chaos today after heavy flooding at multiple locations in Northumberland blocked all rail lines - affecting CrossCountry, LNER, Lumo and TransPennine Express services.

LNER advised its customers 'not to travel north of Newcastle in either direction', with industrial action by train drivers on other routes today adding to the disruption.

Rail users in Devon and Somerset also faced disruption, with South Western Railway saying a landslip between Exeter St Davids and Yeovil Junction had blocked all lines.

Heavy rain and flooding caused earth to move above the Crewkerne Tunnel and the line was closed until at least Thursday for safety reasons. The operator said further rain on the way meant there is 'potential that no services will run until the weekend'.

Flooding at Alsager in Cheshire blocked the line between Crewe and Stoke-on-Trent, impacting East Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway services.

Great Western Railway said flooding caused disruption between Taunton and Castle Cary in Somerset - with long-distance services between Plymouth and London Paddington expected to be diverted, extending journey times by up to an hour.

Snow has continued to make life difficult in other parts of the country with Cumbria Police saying they expected conditions to be 'challenging' for the rest of the week, although the major incident declared in the area has been ended.

The Met Office said rain would ease across England and Wales with brighter spells later, but another cold day will see wintry showers in the north and north west.

Cloud will remain overnight in the south and south east with frost and some freezing fog forming by dawn.

Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said the risk of snow was lessening and would 'more or less be confined to Scottish mountains' by the end of the week.