South Western Railway (SWR) has advised people should only use the trains 'if absolutely necessary' from Saturday through to Thursday.

There is a risk that the disruption could hit the thousands of people due to attend the England rugby international against Argentina and Sunday, which could push more cars on to the area's road.

Strikes are due to be held by the RMT union on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday from 7.30am to 6.30pm. However, services will also be disrupted on the intervening days.

And the travel difficulties will continue on Thursday – November 10 – with a separate strike by Transport for London workers on both the Tube and Overground services.

SWR said: "We are sorry for the disruption this strike action will cause.

"Only travel if absolutely necessary from Saturday 5 to Thursday 10 November.

"There will be a severely reduced service for strike days on 5, 7, and 9 November from 07.30 – 18.30 only, with many routes closed entirely."

It said that services on the non-strike days will start much later than normal each day and are predicted to be disrupted.

There will be some trains running on strike days, for example on the Windsor and Eton line to Waterloo via Isleworth, Brentford, Kew Bridge and Barnes Bridge.

However, there will be nothing stopping on the route through Whitton, Twickenham, St Margarets, Richmond, North Sheen and Mortlake.

The new Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, has signalled his willingness to speak to the unions about the ongoing dispute over pay, jobs and pensions. However, he has stressed that any deal must be thrashed out with the train companies and Network Rail.

Glynn Barton, Transport for London's interim chief operating officer, said: "It's highly disappointing that the RMT union is planning strike action on the London Underground and Overground on November 10.

"We are encouraging them to withdraw this disruptive action and continue to engage with us and Arriva Rail London, operator of the London Overground, to avoid disruption to our customers.

"No changes to TfL pensions are currently tabled, and no one has or will lose their job as a result of any changes proposed.

"Customers should check before they travel from November 5-11, as strike action will impact different modes of transport each day.

"For November 10, we are advising customers to expect very limited or no service on the Tube, a reduced service on London Overground and for the rest of the network to be very busy."