South Western Railway (SWR) has been forced to cancel all services after 8pm on Friday (March 2) as the Beast from the East continues to freeze south-east England.
In a statement, the rail operator said: "The forecast this afternoon is for further severe snow and high winds.
"Our colleagues, together with Network Rail, have battled tirelessly throughout the night to try to get trains moving in very challenging conditions and will continue to do so throughout the day.
"Despite this, we’ve had to make a difficult decision to close down our service early today. This is so that we can get as many of you home as possible."
SWR advised people not to travel on its network and, if they had already travelled, to get home as soon as possible.
The company added: "We cannot guarantee to get you to your destination this evening."
Among the issues affecting the network, according to SWR, are patches of ice preventing electricity transferring from the third rail to trains, meaning services cannot move.
Ice has also frozen a number of points across the network.
SWR has already suspended service on the following lines:
- Trains between London Waterloo and Hounslow via Brentford and Hounslow will not run. Services between London Waterloo and Weybridge/Reading and Windsor & Eton Riverside (via Staines) will run as normal;
- Trains between Chessington South and London Waterloo will not run. You can use your ticket on local bus services;
- Trains between Dorking and London Waterloo will not run. You can use your ticket on Southern Rail services to and from London Victoria.
There is currently no service between the following stations:
- Brockenhurst to Lymington Pier;
- Portsmouth Harbour to Fratton;
- Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin;
- Southampton and Weymouth;
- Basingstoke and Salisbury/Exeter.
Passengers are advised to check the SWR website for up-to-date train times and journey information, as further short-notice alterations may need to be made prior to the network closing.
