Torrential storms brought much of Britain's rail network to a standstill today with huge sections of the country becoming no-go areas for trains.

Passengers already facing delays due to speed restrictions introduced by Railtrack found themselves stranded as train companies suspended services.

All Connex services were suspended this morning and the Thameslink route between London Victoria and Brighton was closed.

Railtrack chief executive Gerald Corbett said the situation was "ghastly" for passengers.

But he added: "These are unique circumstances for everybody and they should be responded to uniquely."

Brighton commuter Ian Carter caught the 6.47am train from Brighton but at 9am was still stranded at Haywards Heath.

Mr Carter, who was due to start a new job in London, was told there would be no trains into the capital for at least four hours and no buses either.

He said: "I am seriously fed up. I forked out £295 for a rail pass and on the first day I use it there are no trains. It is chaos here. The rail staff don't seem to know what's going on and they can't even lay on any buses.

"Luckily my new bosses were really good about it and told me to go home. They said half their staff had not been able to get in today."

Services from Brighton to London were still severely disrupted this afternoon.

A Connex spokeswoman said: "There are very limited services running from Brighton to London Victoria and we are not able to say at the moment how long the delays will be.

"Services from Brighton to Lewes and Chichester are also very, very limited and people should only travel if they have to."

All Thameslink services from Brighton to London were still suspended this afternoon.