Heatwave hits trains: All the London services disrupted by the hot weather

The mercury hit 35C in Kew Gardens on Tuesday afternoon, making it the hottest May day ever recorded, beating Monday’s top of 34.8C.

Before this year, the May peak had stood at 32.8C, reached in 1922 and 1944.

A number of services have struggled to cope with the heat, causing chaos for commuters.

Here are all the rail services in and around London which are being affected by the hot weather on Tuesday.

The train operator runs commuter services from Waterloo to south west London, suburban services in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire and Dorset, as well as regional services in Devon, Somerset and Wiltshire.

In an update on its website, SWR, which also operates services on the Isle of Wight, said: “Due to multiple signalling problems all lines are disrupted.

“Train services running across the whole South Western Railway network may be cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

“Due to multiple signalling faults, track defects and heat-related speed restrictions across the South Western Railway network, trains are required to run at a reduced speed on a number of lines which is likely to delay your journey.

“Engineers are currently attending the issues that are most impacting the train services across our network.”

There have been a number of heat-related incidents between Peterborough and Stevenage on Tuesday disrupting some lines running between Peterborough and London Kings Cross.

Trains between these stations will be delayed throughout the rest of the day.

A problem with the platform equipment at Deptford means that trains are unable to call at platform 2.

As such, trains will not call at this platform and will run non-stop from London Bridge to Greenwich in this direction only, with disruption expected until the end of the day.

This is affecting Southeastern services between London Cannon Street / London Bridge and Dartford, and also London Cannon Street circular services.

It is also impacting Thameslink services between West Hampstead Thameslink / Kentish Town and Rainham (Kent), and also between Kentish Town and Gillingham.

A points failure at London Euston has blocked some lines, while there has also been a fault with the signalling system between Milton Keynes Central and Watford Junction.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed.

Speed restrictions caused by high track temperatures between Watford Junction and London Euston & Clapham Junction means that all lines are disrupted.

Trains running between these stations are running at reduced speeds and may be delayed by up to 50 minutes or cancelled, with disruption expected until the end of the day.

This is affecting a number of Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern Railway, London Overground, and Southern services.

There is a speed restriction in place due to high track temperatures between London Liverpool Street and Cheshunt / Stratford.

Trains are therefore running at a reduced speed on some lines.

A number of Tube and Overground lines are currently also suffering from delays – though some of these are not weather related.

As of 5.30pm, affected lines include: