A national red alert heatwave emergency has been declared for most of England, including Cornwall, expected to cause travel issues.

Great Western Railway (GWR) says that journeys will take longer and some services will be cancelled.

The Met Office has issued a red 'Extreme Heat' warning amid concerns that temperatures could reach a record high of 40°C.

Track temperatures are expected to rise, reaching in excess of 50°C, which means significant speed restrictions will be put in place across all parts of the GWR network. Engineers will be positioned at key locations to monitor the condition of the track.

GWR is advising customers to plan ahead and check journey times before travelling. It is anticipated that train services will be busy, especially those serving coastal destinations. Rail replacement operations were heavily impacted over the weekend.

Temperatures are set to peak today (18th) and Tuesday with a blanket speed restriction in place across the GWR network. A revised timetable will be in operation.

GWR Customer Service and Operations Director, Richard Rowland, said: "Passengers travelling over the next few days should take some sensible precautions, like bringing extra water, allow plenty of time for their journey and check their train is running before leaving home."

Network Rail's Infrastructure Maintenance Engineer, Dan Collins, added: "Our team of engineers has been busy identifying the parts of the railway most at risk and have completed a number of measures to mitigate the impact of the high temperatures including painting the metal rails white to reduce the temperature and tensioning the rails to prevent misalignment."

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