The accident stopped a Virgin Trains service from Brighton to Edinburgh just north of Beattock, in Dumfries and Galloway.

The alarm was raised at 1920BST on Tuesday when the front carriage hit a tree branch after heavy rain caused a small landslide.

The train appears to have struck a branch which was rattling about on the line after falling down in the bad weather Police spokesman

A British Transport Police spokesman said another train was brought up alongside to take the 160 passengers off the vehicle.

They were taken to Carlisle before being allowed to continue their journeys.

The train was later moved off the line and work was carried out overnight to ensure that the track was completely clear again on Wednesday morning.

However, the spokesman was not able to confirm how long the passengers were stranded on the train.

Some trains travelling on the West Coast Main Line were diverted from Carlisle up to Kilmarnock and across to Glasgow.

A police spokesman said: "The train appears to have struck a branch which was rattling about on the line after falling down in the bad weather.

Teenage death

"This has led to a ruptured fuel line, which has to be fixed."

Fire crews were already in the area dealing with flooding.

Meanwhile, a 16-year-old girl has died after falling into a water-filled gorge near Kinross.

Alix-Ann Aisin MacKay was with a friend at Rumbling Bridge when she got into difficulty while trying to cross the gorge.

Her body was recovered at 2030 BST on Tuesday.

Parts of Perth and Kinross and Dumfries and Galloway were hit by flash flooding after heavy rainfall.

Roads in both areas were badly affected and drivers are being urged to use caution.