Commuters are being
advised to avoid travelling unless their journey is essential this morning as
yesterday’s heatwave continues to cause chaos.
With temperatures hitting over 38C, the UK’s rail network
struggled to cope with rails buckling and overhead cables being damaged.
The worst-affected train companies affected are Great Northern,
Thameslink and East Midland Trains.
Thameslink will have a reduced ability to run trains, with half of
its lines unavailable.
East Midlands trains between Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby and
London St Pancras International are also affected.
‘East Midlands trains will
be operating … on an emergency timetable due to the reduced number of lines
available for trains to operate on,’ the company said.
‘East Midlands trains strongly urge you not to travel on the
London St Pancras International / Nottingham / Sheffield route today.’
Services between Peterborough and Hitchin will not run until 7am.
In a statement, Network Rail said it had been ‘unable to
completely fix the damage to the overhead wires between London St Pancras
International and St Albans, and will continue to work on this on Friday
night’.
It added: ‘Please check and
replan your journey, as service information will be updated throughout the
day.’
The weather is also causing difficulties to flights. British
Airways announced that ‘severe thunderstorms are causing significant delays and
cancellations to our operation in and out of London’.
Further travel chaos could be caused by thundery downpours
prompted by the sweltering temperatures, with flash flooding and power cuts
possible.
Speed restrictions on most commuter lines were imposed over fears
steel tracks could buckle in the heat, while the conditions also led to
overhead electric wires being damaged, blocking all lines between London and
Luton.
Overhead wire failures also caused disruption between London and
Watford, between Preston and Carlisle and in the Birmingham area.
Greater Anglia and Stansted Express services from London Liverpool
Street are expected to be hit by delays until today, according to Network Rail
Enquiries. Commuters were dealt a further blow when they were told they could
not claim compensation.
Thousands of people were left stranded yesterday during the
evening rush hour as the temperatures caused havoc.
One passenger posted a video aboard a stationary London North
Eastern Railway (LNER) service showing sweat-soaked commuters, including a man
with a baby, desperately fanning themselves.
Another image shows a collapsed man being treated by medical staff
outside the train.
Despite fresher conditions forecast for Friday, ‘disruption is
likely to continue into the morning’, said Network Rail’s network services
director Nick King. Mr King said:
‘Our teams have been working flat out to fix the issues, however
we are sorry that disruption is likely to continue into the morning.
‘We are advising passengers to check with their train operators or
the National Rail Enquiries website before travelling.’
Travellers were urged to check the website before setting off on
their journeys. A yellow warning for thunderstorms has been issued for most of
England except the South West, and parts of Scotland until 4am on Friday.
Much of the country is forecast to experience more balmy
temperatures of around 23C to 25C (73.4F-77F) throughout the day, according to
the Met Office.
Chief meteorologist Steve Willington said: ‘We’ll continue to see
thunderstorms breaking out this evening and overnight across wide areas of the
UK.
‘Also tonight it’s going to
be very warm across central, eastern and south-eastern parts in particular as
temperatures fall no lower than 23C to 24C in places, which could see further
temperature records broken.’
The dangers of cooling off in lakes, rivers and the sea were
highlighted by emergency services after the bodies of three people were pulled
from water after they reportedly got into difficulty swimming during the week’s
heatwave.
Two bodies were found during police searches in separate incidents
on the Thames and the body of a man was pulled from the water at Cotswold Water
Park, near Cirencester, on Tuesday.
The Eastbourne Herald also reported a swimmer died on Friday after
being pulled from the sea in Pevensey, East Sussex. Searches continue for
someone seen in the River Thames near Waterloo, Scotland Yard said.
The Met Office said a new record temperature for the month was set
at 38.1C in Cambridge on Thursday afternoon, beating the previous record of
36.7C set in Heathrow in 2015.
But the country will see more familiar conditions return into the
weekend, with the weather becoming less settled and an increased chance of rain
for many eastern and north-eastern areas.
The Government’s advisory Committee on Climate Change has warned
the UK is not prepared for the increase in heatwaves that is expected with
global warming.
Source: Metro.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment