CrossCountry has cancelled train services across almost its entire UK network following a power cut at its Birmingham control centre, the operator has confirmed.

The outage began on Saturday and knocked out many of the core systems used to manage the railway, resulting in what CrossCountry described as "significant and unforeseen disruption" that will continue until further notice.

The cancellations affect the vast majority of CrossCountry's network, which normally serves more than 100 stations across Britain. Disrupted routes stretch from Glasgow down to Penzance, and from Leeds across to Manchester.

Major affected corridors include services between Manchester and Birmingham running via Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry, and Wolverhampton. Other affected routes include Leeds to York, Cheltenham to Cardiff, and Glasgow to Edinburgh.

In the South West, services to Plymouth and Penzance face major disruption, with passengers having to rely on Great Western Railway services. According to CrossCountry, the only route expecting a near-normal timetable is the service between Peterborough, Cambridge, and Stansted Airport.

Passengers caught in the disruption have reported severe delays on social media, with some resorting to long-distance coach travel before catching connecting rail services with other companies.

CrossCountry has apologised for the disruption and stated that it is working with industry partners to restore operations as soon as possible.

Tickets are being accepted on alternative rail operators to help stranded passengers complete their journeys. National Rail confirmed that affected travellers can also use London Underground services and West Midlands Metro trams between Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street at no extra charge.

Tickets bought for travel on CrossCountry services on Sunday will remain valid up to and including Wednesday. Passengers delayed by 30 minutes or more can claim compensation through Delay Repay, and those choosing not to travel are entitled to a full refund.

I will be tracking how quickly the control systems are brought back online and when normal service resumes.