Lana Lam
Live digital reporter

The discovery of an unexploded World War Two bomb near Europe's busiest train station overnight led to major disruption for many travellers in London and Paris.

Here's the latest:

• French authorities have successfully defused the 500kg bomb found just a mile away from Gare du Nord station
• Eurostar says services between London and Paris, as well as Paris and Brussels, will resume tomorrow, with two extra services between London and Paris
• Local train services in Paris are due to re-start from around 17:00 GMT today
• A major motorway connecting Paris with northern France has also just reopened
• Many travellers have had to seek alternative routes or cancel their trips entirely due to the disruption
• As our Paris correspondent said earlier, it's not uncommon to find bombs at railways as these areas were targeted during the war

We are closing this live page now but you can read more here.

Image source, French police

More now from France's Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot who says the A1 - a major motorway connecting Paris with northern France - has reopened.

According to the AFP news agency, Tabarot says the large amount of explosive in the bomb was "quite rare" and it was "not a trivial operation" making the area safe.

He adds nearly 300 police officers were mobilised to secure the area after the discovery of the bomb.

Anthony and Rachel travelled from Swansea to Paris via London to see Kwoon, a French band, in concert on Thursday.

The pair only planned on staying for one night but, following the cancellation of trains back to the UK, they'll now have to catch an overnight bus back to Wales.

The pair say their car is still stuck in London and their dogs are still in kennels back home, adding there are "lots of extra costs" that they hadn't initially planned for.

Train operator London North Eastern Railway (LNER) has offered its customers who have been affected by today's Eurostar cancellations a number of alternative options:

• LNER customers with tickets dated 7 March can use the same ticket for another service today
• The operator says those who have had to abandon their journey at London King's Cross, can go back to their home station on the next available service for free
• It adds those deferring their Eurostar travel to another day can use their existing LNER tickets to travel on that new day including any connecting services

Customers can also claim a full refund if they don't plan to travel by train due to the disruption, either through their LNER account or if the ticket was booked via a third party, through their point of purchase.

We can now bring you comments from Eurostar's Chief Safety and Stations Officer Simon Lejeune.

Asked why Eurostar cancelled all services today and whether this could change if domestic railway services resume, Lejeune says the situation is "complex".

Speaking to the BBC before the French transport minister confirmed the WW2 bomb had been defused, Lejeune says they thought it was the "better option" to cancel all 32 services between London and Paris today because it would give passengers "clarity" amid the "uncertainty".

The chief officer says he is "incredibly sorry" for the travel disruption today and the issues customers have faced accessing the Eurostar app.

He tells passengers to "please bear with us", adding travellers should be able to access the website to change their booking, get a refund or voucher.

Hugh Schofield
Paris Correspondent, reporting from Gare du Nord

The bomb was found at a depth of two metres at a building site about a mile north of Gare du Nord, where rail workers were putting up a new bridge over the railway lines.

There was no surprise in the discovery of this bomb because, in fact, there was a bomb expert with the crew that were doing the digging.

That's because this area was so widely bombed by the Allies during World War Two that there was a strong risk of finding ordnance there.

When they do discover a bomb, they have to treat it as a serious risk to human life, seal off the area and dispose of the bomb and that's what's been happening today.

Hugh Schofield
Paris correspondent, reporting from Gare du Nord

The operation to make the unexploded WW2 bomb safe has concluded successfully and rail traffic will start to return to normal from 17:00 GMT.

“We are delighted and relieved that it’s over," says Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot.

Image source, French police

The French Transport Minister, Philippe Tabarot, says the discovery of an unexploded WW2 bomb of this size is "really quite exceptional".

The vessel is estimated to weigh about 500kg and was found "near the tracks" in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis.

Speaking to Reuters news agency, Tabarot says: "Finding bombs around the railway network is something that happens. But in proportion, like the one today with a bomb of this size, it's really quite exceptional."

Image source, French police

Let's bring you footage from Brussels now, a major European rail transit hub, where crowds of passengers have been asked to find alternative travel to Paris after their trains were cancelled.

Eurostar services that had departed from Amsterdam to Paris this morning were also forced to stop in the Belgian capital.

Image source, Anna Griffiths

Anna Griffiths is a personal shopper at Selfridges who was due to attend a glitzy bash at Paris Fashion Week – her first time at the event.

But, as she arrived at St Pancras and refreshed the Eurostar webpage, she discovered her train had been cancelled.

She says: “The service before mine was cancelled about an hour before I needed to leave and I literally got in the Uber and I got to the station and then I saw news journalists outside, cameras and everything.

“As I refreshed the page of the Eurostar, literally all of it went red and said cancelled for the whole day.

“I was just trying to hold on to hope that I would still get there because it’s my first ever time at the Paris Fashion Week and then it all went red."

Anna says she will miss her event but has at least managed to book on to a train heading to Paris tomorrow.

• As a reminder: Eurostar confirmed services between Paris and London and Paris and Brussels will resume on Saturday

Nick Johnson
Reporting from London St Pancras

Eurostar services between London and Paris will remain suspended for the rest of the day, even if French regional trains begin operating from Gare du Nord, Eurostar confirms to the BBC.

Stick with us for further updates.

Eurostar has confirmed services between Paris and London and Paris and Brussels will resume on Saturday.

"Eurostar will run two additional trains: a train leaving London for Paris in the morning, and a train leaving Paris for London in the afternoon," Eurostar says.

Jess Sayer says she's stuck in Paris after being taken on a surprise trip to the French capital for her 40th birthday.

She, her husband and best friend Sarah arrived in the French capital on Tuesday but are now unsure how they will get home.

“We’re frantically on our phones trying to find out what to do," she says. “We just tried to get a flight. All the flights are booked up so at the moment we are completely stuck in Paris with no way of getting home.

“Do we get a hotel and risk trying to get the Eurostar home tomorrow? Or look into ferries?," she asks.

Sarah says it's her grandad's funeral on Monday and while she's relieved she still has a couple of days to get back "it just means I can’t be involved in any preparation really at the moment".

“My other concern is money," she says, "because it’s obviously going to cost us if we have to stay in a hotel so I’m a bit worried about that."

As part of the operation to secure the site where the WW2 bomb was found, 200 people have been evacuated as their houses led directly into the impacted area.

According to Préfet de la Seine-Saint-Denis, who provide updates on state services in the area, a 500 metre security perimeter has been established around the unexploded bomb.

Other people located in the vicinity of the operation, in both Saint-Denis and Saint-Ouen, are asked to stay in their homes until French police and experts have carried out their work to ensure the device is safe and secure.

Image source, Reuters

The World War Two bomb is estimated to weigh about 500 kg and was found "near the tracks" in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis, about 2.5 km (1.5m) from Gare du Nord.

Maintenance workers carrying out overnight works discovered the bomb around 03.30 (02:30 GMT).

Matthieu Chabanel, head of rail infrastructure management unit SNCF Reseau, tells AFP that the bomb's size was "really quite exceptional".

"We know that during World War Two, the rail network was heavily bombed, especially here north of Paris where there were also many factories," he says.

As bomb disposal experts work to disable the device, we're yet to find out more details on when the bomb may have been dropped, who dropped it and if it is dated before or after the 1940 occupation of Paris by Nazi Germany.

It's just passed 13:00 in London and 14:00 in Paris. Let's take a look at the latest updates:

• All trains to and from Europe's busiest train station, Paris Gare du Nord, have been cancelled for the rest of the day
• It comes after an unexploded bomb from World War Two was found on the tracks in a nearby suburb, Saint-Denis, during overnight works
• French police have secured the site while experts carry out work to ensure the device is safe
• Eurostar says services between London and Paris, and Brussels and Paris, have been cancelled- with local trains also suspended
• France's transport minister says train services could resume from 16:00 CET (15:00 GMT)
• Two key roads have also been partially closed - it remains unclear when this disruption will end
• Other services, including Brussels to Marne La Vallée, London to Brussels and London to Amsterdam trains are all running normally

Stick with us.

French authorities say they have secured the site where an unexploded World War Two bomb was discovered on the railway tracks during overnight works.

As we reported earlier, authorities have blocked off an access point to French railway company SNCF's freight area in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis where the bomb was found.

Kevin Peachey
Cost of living correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Passenger rights on train travel to Europe are slightly different to those who take flights.

In this case, as we heard from Jamie at St Pancras, there are the options of an exchange, a voucher valid for 12 months, or a refund – but there are some issues with processing those.

A refund won’t include any booking or exchange fees, and claimants need to contact the provider from whom they bought their ticket.

Wider compensation is a little more complicated.

There are some options for food or the cost of calling someone waiting for you at your destination, and potentially overnight accommodation if you are stranded as a direct result of the cancellation.

Claims need to be made via a form on the website, external within three months.

Many people may book hotels at their destination separately. Those hotels may be flexible, otherwise it may require a claim on a travel insurance policy for any missed bookings.

Hugh Schofield
Paris correspondent, reporting from Gare du Nord

Image source, Reuters

The bomb was found overnight by workers renovating track about a mile north of the Gare du Nord.

Since then, no trains have been allowed to enter or leave the station, which is one of the busiest in Europe.

At first there were big crowds of confused travellers milling inside the station, but most Eurostar passengers have left now, resigned – or in some cases – happy to be staying an extra day.

Railyards around Paris were regular targets of British and American bombers in World War Two, and this is far from being the first time that ordnance has been discovered.

A security perimeter has been set up, and part of the Paris ring road has been closed. The latest news is that a partial resumption of services may be possible from mid afternoon.

Long, orderly queues have formed at London's St Pancras station and at Gare du Nord in Paris after Eurostar cancelled all trains between the two destinations for the rest of the day.

The services were cancelled after the discovery of an unexploded WW2 bomb near Gare du Nord station.