Network Rail has run a poll which shows that 68% of us thought about having a chat about the weather, beating drinking tea (52%) to the top of the poll.

The poll comes as Network Rail launches a new appeal to launch one of their new leafbusting trains.

54% of adults said that heavy snow was the most disruptive weather followed by heavy rain (47%), ice (30%) and 5% said heavy leaf-fall was the most disruptive.

However, with heavy leaf fall comes delays. When trains pass over the leaves, they bake them into a thin slippery layer on the rail which has been described like black ice on the roads.

To tackle the leaf fall season, Network Rail has a team of leaf-fall experts who work around the clock to clear tracks.

Network Rail has also teamed up with Tim Dunn to offer the public a chance to name one of the “unsung heroes” of British Autumn.

If you have an unbe-leaf-able name for the train, you can email it in to Network Rail before the 20th of September.

You can email your name in to [email protected] or using #NameTheLeafbuster on X.

“I’m delighted to get behind this campaign, which highlights how Network Rail’s leaf-busters help reduce delays and keep passengers moving during the autumn period. This is a terrific opportunity for the public to name one of these high-tech marvellous machines, so get those suggestions in now.  I’m confident you can do better than my entry: ‘Trainy McTrainFace.”

Tim Dunn