Regular train travellers – of which I am one – have all experienced what I did on Friday afternoon when the weather warning associated with Storm Arwen turned from amber to red.

It’s a very particular, pit-of-the-stomach sense of dread that creates this almost imperceptible gnawing away at whatever part of your brain controls those stress dreams when you’ve got an early flight to catch.

I am convinced it’s a feeling that is unique to the (genuine) joys of railway travel.

Over the weekend, I was one of the unlucky thousands who had planned a trip using the East Coast Mainline.

Storm Arwen caused widespread disruption across Scotland and north east England.

Storm Arwen reminded us that false hope amid crisis is worse than simple pessimism