UK weather: Are high temperatures affecting morning travel?
Live updates on what the mini heatwave is doing to rush hour commute.
Good morning and welcome to the IBTimes UK's live blog on what looks set to be one of the hottest days of the year as temperatures are forecast to reach over 30C in some parts of Britain.
We will be focusing on how the warm weather will be effecting commuters, as there will surely be the usual complaints on how the heat will make cause trains to run late among other issues.
And that looks like it for the live blog, as temperatures haven't quite reached the highs of July and commuters not suffering as a consequence.
Keep up to date on the latest news and updates on IBTimes UK.
Highways England previously downplayed fears about the traffic congestion over the bank holiday weekend, declaring almost 98% of England's motorway and major A roads will have no roadworks over the August bank holiday period.
Highways England Chief Executive, Jim O'Sullivan said:
This August bank holiday, we're helping drivers with their journeys by clearing roadworks across the majority of our motorways and major A roads in England.
Our traffic officers will also be on patrol and working with partners to help clear any incidents; the vast majority of which will be dealt with in under an hour.
We're asking people to be prepared too. Make sure you have everything you need for your journey should there be any delays, check before and during your journey and also make sure you're aware of the signs and signals on motorways.
With temperatures expected to hit 32C in south-east England, Public Health England issued advice to keep cool and hydrated, especially during the holidays.
Dr Thom Waite, Consultant in Public health Medicine and part of the Extreme Events team at PHE, said:
The hot weather will put an extra strain on bodies and people may feel the ill-effects. Each year we hear stories of people who have fallen seriously ill because, even though it's hotter, they may wear clothes which are too warm for hot weather, they may not drink enough or try to do too much.
We know it's still the school holidays for many and with a number of high profile events planned for this weekend it's really important people in the affected areas keep in mind that the coming days may feel hot, so stay hydrated look out for others and keep an eye on forecasts. That way we can all help each other stay well this summer.
If this warm weather does continue as predicted, experts are warning that drivers could face "carmageddon" this weekend with roads predicted to see the worst bank holiday congestion in years.
Transport information supplier Inrix suggest the combination of rail engineering work and the warm weather will see an increase in the number of cars on the roads as families make the most of the break.
Inrix traffic analyst Greg Hallsworth said:
"A perfect storm of conditions will lead to increased traffic as carmageddon blights the long weekend. With some uncharacteristically good weather forecast and potential rail disruption, holidaymakers could find roads gridlocked far more than usual.
"We have already seen delays of up to 90 minutes during the bank holidays earlier this year but we could see delays of more than 120 minutes for some of the worst affected roads this weekend."
For those who don't understand how the warm weather does appear to cause delays for trains on the rare occasion it does occur in the UK, Network Rail provide this handy explainer:
Buckled Rail
On warm days, rails in direct sunshine can be as much as 20 degrees centigrade above air temperature. As rails are made out of steel, they expand as they heat up and are subject to strong compression. This expansion has to be managed to reduce the risk of track buckling.
If the track does buckle, the line must be closed and the track repaired before services can resume, causing considerable disruption. Usually, these repairs can't be done until the temperature of the rails has dropped.
If a section of track is judged to be at risk, we introduce local speed restrictions - slower trains exert lower forces on the track and reduce the chance of buckling.
Strikes and frequent cancellations have put Southern rail in the spotlight recently, so here's a list of the delays, cancelations and additional information which are effecting services this rush hour, including several cancellations to Gatwick Airport.
07:18 London Bridge to East Grinstead due 08:12
This train will be cancelled. This is due to a fault on this train.
07:31 Uckfield to London Bridge due 08:58
Will be formed of 4 coaches instead of 6. This is due to a shortage of trains because of additional maintenance requirements.
07:45 London Victoria to Gatwick Airport due 08:18
This train will be cancelled. This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
08:08 London Victoria to Sutton Surrey due 08:57
Will be formed of 9 coaches instead of 10. This is due to a shortage of trains because of additional maintenance requirements.
08:15 London Victoria to Gatwick Airport due 08:46
Will be formed of 5 coaches instead of 10.This is due to a shortage of trains following service disruption on a previous day.
08:17 East Grinstead to London Bridge due 09:14
This train will be cancelled. This is due to a fault on this train.
08:21 London Victoria to Brighton due 09:38
Will be formed of 4 coaches instead of 12. This is due to a shortage of trains following service disruption on a previous day.
08:32 London Bridge to Oxted due 09:09
Will be formed of 6 coaches instead of 10.This is due to a shortage of trains because of additional maintenance requirements.
08:35 Gatwick Airport to London Victoria due 09:15
This train will be cancelled.This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
09:02 London Bridge to Uckfield due 10:21
Will be formed of 4 coaches instead of 6. This is due to a shortage of trains because of additional maintenance requirements.
09:03 Sutton Surrey to London Victoria due 09:59
Will be formed of 9 coaches instead of 10. This is due to a shortage of trains because of additional maintenance requirements.
09:06 Gatwick Airport to London Victoria due 09:39
Will be formed of 5 coaches instead of 10. This is due to a shortage of trains following service disruption on a previous day.
09:14 Oxted to London Bridge due 09:52
Will be formed of 6 coaches instead of 10. This is due to a shortage of trains because of additional maintenance requirements.
09:20 Gatwick Airport to London Victoria due 09:56
This train will be cancelled. This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
09:21 London Victoria to Brighton due 10:17
Will be formed of 4 coaches instead of 8. This is due to a broken down train earlier today.
09:29 London Bridge to Norwood Junction due 09:53
This train will be cancelled. This is due to a fault on this train.
09:45 London Victoria to Gatwick Airport due 10:15
This train will be cancelled. This is due to a shortage of train drivers.
First up, here's a quick forecast update from the Met Office:
Today:
Predominately dry with a fair amount of sunshine. Feeling pleasantly warm for most, with another hot day in prospect for East Anglia and southeast England. Turning cloudier with some showery rain in the south later.
Tonight:
Rather cloudy across England and Wales with outbreaks of showery rain, perhaps heavy and thundery. Very warm and muggy in the southeast. Mostly dry with clear spells in the northwest.
Good Morning. Mostly dry with sunny spells. Hot in the southeast. https://t.co/a70feA0Qeq ^Rebecca pic.twitter.com/nFX2mrhN1Y
— Met Office (@metoffice) August 24, 2016
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