Country struggles to get back on track, with damaged power lines, storms and strikes potentially spelling trouble

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

After a week in which Britain has been hit by record temperatures and thunderstorms, heavy rainfall could now bring flooding and further travel disruption.

East Midlands Trains customers have been warned to expect a significantly reduced service to and from London due to repair work on damaged overhead line equipment and a revised timetable on several local routes because of RMT industrial action.

Customers have also been told to check before heading out on their journeys and not to travel on the London St Pancras-Nottingham-Sheffield route as there will be a reduced timetable.

It comes after air passengers suffered major disruption on Friday due to the heatwave and a technical problem with the UK’s air traffic control system. Passengers using Heathrow and Gatwick airports had to contend with delays due to the extreme conditions across Europe. A Heathrow spokesman said the technical issue had now been resolved.

Now a yellow weather warning for rain, covering Angus, Dundee, Fife, Perth and Kinross plus the Grampian region in Scotland, is in place, the Met Office said.

Quick guide Why does hot weather disrupt UK railways? Show Hide How does hot weather affect UK trains? The temperature of steel rails can climb 20 degrees higher than the air around them. So when temperatures are approaching 40 degrees, track temperatures can come close to 60 degrees. That causes the metal to expand, putting it at risk of buckling. Overhead electrical lines can also expand and sag, putting them at risk of being pulled down by trains. A third problem is that dry weather causes cracks, or even potholes, in the ground beneath the track. Trains travelling over such sections have to move more slowly for safety reasons. Why do trains seem to run OK in hotter countries? When Network Rail stress-tests its steel rail for its reaction to heat, it does so based on the mean summer track temperature in the UK, which is 27 degrees. In parts of Europe, and other hot countries, they assume much higher temperatures and manage their track accordingly. Network Rail says it would not be cost-effective to build the UK’s tracks in the way they do in hotter countries because we don’t usually experience large variations in temperature. What is being done to reduce problems? The only way that Network Rail and train operators can respond is by imposing drastic speed restrictions, or cancelling services altogether, to avoid the risk of a train derailing from the misshapen track. Will the climate crisis cause more problems in future? As the world heats up, it is highly likely that the UK will experience more record-breaking heatwaves, meaning periods of rail disruption will become more frequent unless action is taken. Network Rail published its strategy for coping with the climate crisis in 2017. Among the questions it is considering is whether it might eventually become more cost-effective to spend money now on track capable of dealing with the heat, to avoid mounting costs of repairs and compensation for affected passengers. Rob Davies

Heavy rainfall could be bring flooding overnight, travel disruption and a slight chance of power cuts as accumulations of 20-30mm are likely, with as much as 50mm in places.

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The weather warning is extended for Sunday to alert the public that swathes of Scotland and England, with the exception of the South West region, could be hit by heavy rain.

The Met Office warning states: “Accumulations of 40-60mm are possible, with perhaps as much as 80-100mm in places, especially over high ground.”

It could see delays or cancellations to train and bus services.

An East Midlands Trains spokesman said that the ongoing disruption to services on the Midland Main Line route to London would continue over the weekend while engineers repair major damage to overhead line equipment near West Hampstead.

Managing director Jake Kelly said: “We’re sorry to everybody who has experienced disrupted journeys over the past two days.

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“We are working very closely with Network Rail while they work to repair the overhead line equipment and fully reopen the railway, which will in turn allow us to reintroduce our full train service to and from London St Pancras.”

He said due to the rail strike there would be changes to services on local routes, with revised timetables.