The Met Office has activated an extreme amber heat warning as the UK braces for temperatures up to 38°C, prompting rail operators to advise passengers to travel only if essential. The warning is in force from 9am today until midnight, covering London, the South East, East of England, and East Midlands, with heat health alerts also active across all of England.
Rail operators cut services due to extreme heat
Several train companies have announced reduced timetables and service suspensions due to the heat, which can cause rails to buckle when ground temperatures exceed 50°C. Chiltern Railways is running a reduced timetable between 11am and 8pm, with off-peak services between London Marylebone and Birmingham Moor Street operating hourly and some services to Oxford cancelled.
Michael Stewart, from Chiltern Railways, said: “If you do need to travel, please check your journey before setting out, allow extra time and carry water with you to stay hydrated.” He added that customers should travel “only if it’s essential on Thursday because of the exceptionally high temperatures forecast across our network.”
Full list of affected train operators
Other operators with planned changes include c2c, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway, Northern, Transport for Wales, and West Midlands Railway. Chiltern Railways will not run services from Birmingham Snow Hill after 10.15am, and shuttle services from Leamington Spa to Birmingham Moor Street will stop at 11am.
East Midlands Railway has also advised only essential travel on Thursday, suspending regional services between Sheffield and Liverpool, and services between Nottingham and Worksop and Nottingham and Leicester after 12pm. Customers are encouraged to travel before midday and expect longer journeys.
Refunds and record heat
Chiltern Railways confirmed that fee-free refunds are available for customers who no longer wish to travel, and tickets dated for Thursday can be used on Friday or Saturday. The heatwave follows reports that 2026 could be the hottest summer on record, with nearly three-quarters of England and all of Wales in drought after the driest July.
Temperatures haven’t risen above 36.4°C in August for six years, with that figure recorded at Heathrow and Kew Gardens in 2020.
