Disruption continues on West Coast Main Line

A landslip caused disruption on the West Coast Main Line near Beattock

A landslip on the West Coast Main Line in the south of Scotland has caused major disruption to rail services.

The line was closed in both directions between Carstairs and Lockerbie following the incident at Beattock after heavy rain in the area.

Network Rail said problems from the incident would continue for the rest of the day, after the incident was first reported at about 14:30.

It said engineers would work through the night to clear the track and stabilise the slope above the railway.

Much of southern Scotland was covered by warnings for high wind and heavy rain throughout the early part of Friday.

An image posted by Network Rail on social media showed how a large section of track had been covered by the landslip.

Avanti West Coast advised customers not to travel north of Preston for the remainder of the day, adding that their tickets would be valid until the end of Saturday.

Caledonian Sleeper said all services would depart as scheduled, but that delays could occur during the overnight journey.

The rail operator also stated that Avanti tickets could be used on Cross Country, LNER and TransPennine Express services.

The West Coast Main Line is one of the key rail routes in the United Kingdom running between London and Glasgow with a number of branches across the country.