A mum has told of her shock after her daughter was struck by the branch of a tree as it fell on top of her train to work.

The Clydebank woman's daughter had been making her typical commute from Dumbarton East when the incident took place on Wednesday morning.

Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter: She was walking up the platform as the train approached unaware of what was about to follow.

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “Most people were in the shelter area of the station but my daughter and another woman had started walking up the platform as the train arrived.

“The station lighting is not great during these dark mornings and both the ladies and train driver could not see what was about to happen.

“She told me the train hit a large tree which must have fallen over on the line due to the storm.

"As the train pushed it out the way branches broke off and were flung in all directions one hitting my daughter and a bigger one hitting the other woman.

“Thankfully both women were uninjured and okay. The driver had started to slow down to a stop but the tree had got tangled up in the overhead wires causing sparks to fly.

“The driver got out and started to tell people to leave the train and as they started to get out of the station the tree caught on fire and then exploded.

“My daughter said everyone was shocked and some people were screaming.”

READ NEXT: Images show extent of flooding at Bowling railway station

The line was closed for several hours as engineers attempted to safely gain access to the site to remove the tree.

It reopened shortly before 11.30am. The incident sparked the beginning of a day of travel chaos in West Dunbartonshire as Storm Gerrit battered the UK.

The woman told the Reporter that she is thankful her daughter is safe but the ordeal had been completely “out of the blue”.

She added: “It sounded quite horrific. I asked if anybody was hurt as she said the tree had exploded and was on fire.

“Thankfully everyone was okay. It was just totally out of the blue.”

Phil Campbell, ScotRail customer operations director, apologised to commuters including the woman's daughter for any disruption caused by the incident.

Mr Campbell said: "Storm Gerrit has brought yellow weather warnings for high winds, rain and snow across most of Scotland, which does bring the risk of trees and other objects falling on the railway infrastructure.

"We're sorry to customers who experienced disruption to their journey as a result of this incident.

"We'd encourage customers who plan to travel to check their journey before setting off, and keep an eye on our website, mobile app, or social media channels for live updates.”