UK heatwave hits rail network: Smoke on tracks near London’s Waterloo causes delays, cancellations

Britain’s sweltering heatwave caused severe travel disruption on Tuesday, with reports of smoke coming from the tracks near London’s Waterloo station, forcing train operators to cancel services and impose speed limits on parts of the network.South Western Railway (SWR) said smoke was detected between London’s Waterloo and Vauxhall stations, prompting emergency safety checks and causing major delays on one of the country’s busiest rail corridors, The Independent reported.Although operators did not directly link the incident to rising temperatures, officials warned that extreme heat was already affecting rail operations in southern England.

Services canceled, trains slowed

Passengers traveling to and from London Waterloo are facing disruption on routes connecting Guildford, Woking, Chessington South, Dorking, Hampton Court Palace, Shepparton and Strawberry Hill. Trains on several lines were ordered to run at reduced speeds as inspections continued throughout the day.SWR has also pre-emptively canceled a number of services to “minimize disruption caused by the heatwave”. Journeys between London Waterloo and Weymouth via Winchester, Southampton and Bournemouth are affected, as well as routes to Aldershot via Woking and Guildford.Some flights operating between Exeter St Davids, Salisbury and London Waterloo have also been axed, terminating in Basingstoke rather than continuing to central London.Separately, National Rail reported disruption on the Elizabeth Line, with some eastbound services canceled from London Liverpool Street to Gidea Park on Tuesday afternoon.

Britain records hottest night in May

The rail chaos comes as Britain experiences what forecasters say are “unprecedented” May temperatures. Nighttime temperatures did not drop below 21.3°C in parts of south London, officially marking the arrival of “tropical night” and setting a new record for the highest daily and lowest temperatures ever recorded in May.The previous record was 32.8°C set in 1944, but temperatures this week have been well above seasonal normals. Meteorologists have warned that London could hit 34°C again after the UK recorded its hottest May day on record at 34.8°C earlier this week.Weather experts say the scale of the temperature spike is unusual for this time of year, noting that climate records are usually broken only slightly, not by such a large margin.