South Western Railway is urging passengers not to travel across its network on Tuesday evening because of "extreme" disruption caused by Storm Henk.

All trains south of Guildford and west of Woking have been cancelled until further notice, as of 6.05pm, with no trains expected on the Alton and Portsmouth lines for the rest of the evening.

The disruption has left many commuters stranded in London after their first day back at work following the Christmas and New Year break.

A notice on the SWR website reads: "Due to high winds leading to multiple trees and other obstructions blocking the railway across the network, please do not attempt to travel until further notice. "There are at least seven trees down and a roof on our tracks, so we have had to suspend services south and west of Woking, south of Guildford and west of Staines. "Teams are working hard to clear the lines as soon as possible, but we are expecting extensive disruption throughout the evening." The rail operator has informed ticket-holders they can arrange their own taxis to complete journeys and claim this back from its customer services team.

To claim a refund, passengers will need:

  • Full contact details.
  • The time and date of journey.
  • The stations travelled to and from.
  • A description of the series of events that took place.
  • Copies of train tickets and taxi receipt.

Email these details to [email protected] or write to: Freepost SWR CUSTOMER RELATIONS. The SWR notice continued: "If your ticket is dated for travel today (January 2) you can use it to travel tomorrow (January 3).  "We are very sorry for the disruption to your journey this evening."