Travellers set for more delays thanks to rainy conditions following scorching week

Travellers are set for more delays this weekend thanks to the weather combined with a rail strike and repair work.

Record-breaking temperatures during the week brought Britain’s transport network to a standstill as road surfaces melted and train tracks warped.

After a scorching week, heavy rainfall could now bring flooding, forecasters have warned.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for rain large areas of Scotland and England, with the exception of the South West region, until Sunday afternoon.

Up to 20mm of rain fell in parts of London and the south-east of England overnight on Friday into Saturday, with forecasters expecting up to another 20mm during the morning.

The weather could bring more travel problems, with delays or cancellations to train and bus services possible.

East Midlands Trains (EMT) customers were 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 routes because of RMT industrial action.

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Customers are urged to check before starting their journeys and not to travel on the London St Pancras-Nottingham-Sheffield route due to a reduced timetable.

A spokesman said 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.

Jake Kelly, East Midlands Trains managing director, said: "We're sorry to everybody who has experienced disrupted journeys over the past two days.

"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.

"Whilst this work takes place, we do have a significantly reduced timetable in place on our London route over the weekend and our advice for customers is to avoid travelling on this route wherever possible and make alternative arrangements.

"Due to the RMT industrial action, there will also be some changes to services on our local routes on Saturday, with revised timetables and replacement coach operations in place on some lines."

Air passengers also suffered delays on Friday due to the heatwave and a technical problem with the UK's air traffic control system.

The technical issue was resolved by Saturday but Gatwick Airport warned that adverse weather across Europe could mean more delays and advised passengers to check with their airlines for the latest information.