Commuters are being warned that widespread disruption on key road and rail links in northwest England could last for several days – with bridges in Cumbria washed away by Storm Desmond, and some major train lines under 8ft of floodwater.

National Rail is urging passengers who were planning to use the West Coast Main Line between Preston and Scotland not to travel during this morning’s rush hour.

All trains have been suspended, and there are no plans to offer rail replacement services because of treacherous conditions on the roads.

Pictures have emerged which show the extent of flooding in Preston and Carlisle. Network Rail engineers must wait for the water to recede from the tracks before they can repair and rebuild cabinets along the line which house “complex electrical equipment”.

Strong winds and heavy rains brought by Atlantic storm Desmond have hit normal life in parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland since Dec. 5, 2015. Several rivers in Scotland, Wales, England, and northern Ireland have reached record levels, and the Met Office has issued flood warnings in more than 60 areas. Gusts of wind reaching a speed of 85 mph (136.9 kph) were recorded in Wales, while 1,000 people were evacuated from Hawick at the Scottish borders as River Teviot breached its banks. Flooding has also disrupted power, train services, forced closure of roads, and caused landslides.

On Sunday, services connecting London Euston with Glasgow and Edinburgh were terminating at Preston, leaving hundreds stranded.

Speed restrictions are also in place across the railway network – which, when combined with last-minute alterations to timetables, make delays extremely likely.

It is hoped that long-distance West Coast services could resume by Wednesday, but there are warnings that further flooding is possible in the coming days.

A normal rail service is expected to run today on the East Coast Main Line, which also connects Scottish cities with London, but journeys with CrossCountry and Virgin East Coast are expected to be a lot busier than normal.

The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for the rest of the week and is forecasting “persistent, heavy rain” for northwest England and Scotland over the next 24 hours, a lot of which could fall on already saturated ground.

Rain is expected across northwest England, as well as central and southern Scotland, until Friday – with strong winds of up to 60mph to batter flooded areas.

Meanwhile, the Environment Agency has enforced 46 severe flood warnings across northwest England – signifying there is “danger to life”.

NHS hospitals in the region have cancelled non-essential appointments and routine services as emergency crews remain under pressure, with the Cumbria Partnership Foundation confirming it will only be offering vital services.

On the roads, Cumbria Police has confirmed that three bridges have been “washed away” by the floods: the B5295 bridge at Braithwaite, Fitz Footbridge in Keswick, and Pooley Bridge in the Eden District.

A key bridge connecting Lancaster city centre with the M6 will also remain closed until Monday afternoon at the earliest so safety inspections can take place.

Lancaster train station is expected to have some rail services running during daylight hours – with the first at 7.41am, and the last at 4.02pm.

David Cameron will chair an emergency COBRA meeting later this morning to discuss the flooding in northwest England – and 40,000 homes in Lancaster are still without power.

Amid criticism over whether flood defences upgraded in 2010 were able to cope with Storm Desmond, Environment Secretary Liz Truss said the Government was delivering on its commitment to build 1,400 new flood defence schemes to better protect 300,000 homes in vulnerable area – the equivalent of £2.3bn in new investment.