Commuters are continuing to suffer in today’s heatwave after smoke was spotted on a South Western Railway train track between London Waterloo and Vauxhall stations.
South Western Railway (SWR) confirmed they have cancelled some services after smoke was reported on the track.
Trains on other lines are also being forced to run slower than usual while a safety inspection takes place.
Delays are expected to and from London Waterloo and Guildford, Woking, Chessington South, Dorking, Hampton Court, Shepperton, and Strawberry Hill.
SWR did not say whether the incident is related to high temperatures.
And it is not just the smoke. SWR said it had already cancelled a number of services scheduled today to ‘help minimise any potential disruption’ from the hot weather.
It warned that this may affect journeys between London Waterloo and Weymouth via Winchester, Southampton, and Bournemouth, and between London Waterloo and Aldershot via Woking and Guildford.
They said: ‘Hot weather means trains across the South Western Railway network may be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised.
‘Disruption is expected until the end of the day.’
It comes after a record for the highest daily minimum temperature for May was set overnight, making it a ‘tropical night’.
Temperatures did not fall below 21.3°C at Kenley Airfield, south London, breaking the record for the highest daily minimum temperature in May.
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The mercury is expected to climb as high as 34°C in London today after the hottest day of May was recorded yesterday at 34.8°C.
The previous record was set in 1944, when Britain was baked by 32.8°C.
Forecasters described the heat as ‘unprecedented for the time of year,’ stressing that temperature records are typically broken by only fractions of a degree.