Disruption is expected on much of the rail network in Scotland and north-east England on Saturday following flooding and power cuts amid heavy rainfall.

Forecasters issued an amber rain warning for an area of north-east Scotland stretching from just north of Dundee up past Aberdeen on Friday.

A yellow rain warning was also in place along the Scottish east coast from the English border up to Peterhead.

National Rail says that speed restrictions will be in place on a number of routes in Scotland because of continuing poor weather, causing disruption until at least lunchtime.

And major disruption is expected between Newcastle and Edinburgh until the end of Saturday because of flooding which had blocked the line on Friday.

A spokesman said on Friday: “Flooding between Newcastle and Edinburgh means all lines are currently blocked.

“No trains can currently run in either direction and will be either cancelled or revised.

“Major disruption is expected until the end of the day tomorrow (Saturday).”

He added: “Due to forecasted severe weather in Scotland, speed restrictions have been put in place on a number of routes.

“As a result, trains may be cancelled, delayed, revised or suspended. This is expected until at least 12pm on Saturday.

“Most of the restrictions are on the network which only ScotRail run. However, Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, LNER, Lumo and TransPennine Express customers may also be affected.”

The warning comes after customers were advised not to travel on several affected routes on Friday.

The spokesman said: “Disruption is expected to continue into Saturday morning until all lines have been checked to ensure it is safe to run trains.”

He said this would include speed restrictions between Perth and Inverness and Aberdeen and Inverness until 8am, with trains suspended between Dundee and Aberdeen and Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline Town (Fife) until 12pm.

Dundee and Edinburgh have also seen major road closures due to flooding while Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead, and Doncaster are among the places facing travel disruptions to rail networks, metro lines, roads and bus services.

Hundreds of people were left stranded at Newcastle station due to the cancelled services north to Scotland, with huge queues for replacement buses and passengers told they may have to wait up to five hours to board.