HUNDREDS of people heading to COP26 in Glasgow have been stranded in London after the main rail route between the two cities was closed. 

Avanti West Coast have advised people not to travel after a tree fell on power cables near Rugby, blocking the line. 

Passengers waiting to embark from Euston station reported scenes of chaos with hundreds left waiting on the platform.

The disruption is also affecting services on the east coast line.

It is now unlikely they will be able to use the route to get to Scotland's largest city on the day the vital climate conference opens.

A spokesman for Avanti said: "We are advising people not to travel and to find alternative routes of they can.

"Network Rail engineers are at the scene to assess the damage and work out the next steps.

"But until we know the extent of the damage it is impossible to give a timeframe for when the line will be open". 

And LNER (London North Eastern Railway) wrote: "Due to damage to the overhead electric wires at #Peterborough, the northbound lines are blocked to electric trains.

"Network Rail are working to remove tree branches which have fallen onto the lines in multiple locations and then inspect the lines for damage."

The disruption came as a result of damage to overhead electrical wires between Rugby and Milton Keynes on the West Coast Main Line.

Network Rail said its teams are on site near Long Buckby in Northamptonshire, where the damage occurred.

Travellers are advised not to go to Euston and instead check for regular updates.

One passenger tweeted: "All Glasgow trains out of Euston cancelled because of a fallen tree.

"Concourse rammed with people. Not clear atm how/whether anyone is getting to Glasgow today in time for the first day of #cop26".

Others said the weather-related disruption to the climate conference was "ironic".

David Johnson was left sitting on his train from London Euston to Glasgow for more than half an hour on Sunday morning before eventually being told to get off along with his fellow passengers.

He is attending COP26 as chief executive of the Margaret Pyke Trust, a UK-based international NGO focused on removing barriers to family planning as part of climate adaptation efforts.

Needing to reach the conference, Johnson decided to book a flight from Gatwick to Glasgow which, he said, “does, of course, seem ridiculous”.

“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,” he told the PA News Agency.