Trains are running again after a lightning strike forced services to be cancelled this afternoon.

Southeastern earlier said all lines were out of action between Ashford and Folkestone.

Lightning struck signalling equipment in the Folkestone area which blocked all the lines.

The equipment was damaged and engineers were called to fix the problem.

Delays lasted for a few hours with buses replacing trains.

A spokesman at Southeastern said: “A lightening strike this afternoon caused a loss of power across the National Grid. This resulted in a loss of signals between Folkestone and Saltwood, meaning we were unable to run some or our trains.

“Trains are now running but may be subject to delays of around 7 minutes while the problem is fixed. Please allow more time for your journey and continue to check before you travel. If you’re delayed by 30 minutes or more you can claim Delay Repay compensation.”

For full details of how your journey might be affected visit Southeastern's website here.