Transport for London, which runs the “Tube,” said “little or no” services were expected between today evening and Friday morning in the British capital.

The transport authority warned users to complete their journeys by 5.30pm local time.

A return to normal service is not expected until midday on Friday, it added.

Some 10,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) were due to walkout amid a dispute over a 5% pay offer.

“Transport for London has failed to avert this strike by not offering a deal that was acceptable to our members on London Underground,” an RMT spokesman said.

“We do not take strike action lightly but we are determined to get a negotiated settlement on pay, travel facilities, and a grading structure that means our members will not lose out.”

The industrial action has been mirrored across the public and private sectors in the UK, as workers demand pay rises in response to decades-high inflation and the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

Those who have taken to picket lines over the last 18 months have ranged from health sector employees and teachers to lawyers and dock workers.

Junior doctors are due to end their longest consecutive strike in the seven-decade history of the UK’s National Health Service on Tuesday.