UK weather: Amber extreme heat warning issued as 35C heatwave approaches

The Met Office has issued an amber extreme heat warning for parts of southern and eastern England and south Wales.

The warning is valid for Monday and Tuesday and warns of temperatures peaking at 35C (95F). The nights will also be hot, remaining above 20C in some locations.

The developing heatwave is likely to have widespread impacts on people and infrastructure.

It brings the risk of impacts to health, especially for vulnerable people, and the danger of sunburn and heat exhaustion in the wider population. People travelling to coasts, lakes and rivers are being warned to stay safe in and around water.

Some travel delays and disruption are also likely.

This is only the sixth amber extreme heat warning that has been issued by the Met Office since they were introduced in 2021 - and the first since August 2022. A more severe red warning was also issued in the July of that year.

It is separate from the amber and yellow Heat Health Alerts that had already been issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

Those alerts, valid for regions of southern and eastern England until Tuesday, warn of significant impacts to health and social care services - with a likely increase in deaths among elderly and vulnerable people.

In contrast, this Met Office warning suggests that the heat will have effects on the general population.

Temperatures on Friday are due to peak at 31-32C (88-90F) in south-east England, although it will remain cooler in northern and western parts of the UK where rain will continue to fall. Slightly cooler air will arrive from the west on Saturday, although highs of 27 or 28C (81-82F) are still likely.

However, heat will build again from Sunday and by Monday and Tuesday temperatures will peak at 34 or 35C (93-95F) in south-east England. By that stage, large swathes of England and Wales will see highs into the high-20s or low-30s Celsius.

It is very likely that many places will reach official heatwave criteria, and there is a chance that the UK's June temperature record of 35.6C (96.1F), set in 1957 and 1976 will be broken.

Long spells of sunshine will bring high or very high UV levels and pollen levels are also forecast to be very high in places.

High humidity will make it feel particularly uncomfortable and overnight temperatures may remain above 20C (68F) in places, giving little relief from the heat.

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Two passenger trains have collided in the Bedford area, leaving a number of passengers and crew hurt.

Emergency crews are on the scene after the crash happened between two East Midlands Railway (EMR) services at 17.12 BST.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was "deeply concerned" by reports of the collision, while the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union said passengers and staff had sustained "serious injuries".

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue crews are attending the site just south of Bedford and the service asked people to avoid the location while they worked at the scene.

British Transport Police announced just before 18:45 BST it was responding to reports of a collision near Bedford.

Rail service Thameslink reported lines between Luton and Bedford had been blocked since around 17:30 BST.



A passenger who was on board one of the trains, who spoke to the BBC, said the collision happened at 17:12 BST.

The collision happened just south of the Elstow interchange between the A421 and the A6 and both trains are still on the track.

Family and friends of passengers have been told not to go the scene by police.

What happened in the collision?

It has been claimed one of the trains hit another that was either stationary or moving slowly in front of it on the same line.

Passenger Peter Knapp said others on his train saw one ahead of them before the crash.

He told BBC News: "I felt like I'd been in a bomb explosion."

Knapp described seeing "bloodied faces", people with what appeared to be broken legs, and "smoke everywhere".

Another passenger told the BBC that people flew out of their seats in the crash, including someone who hit her husband in the face.

"There was a lot of blood. A lot of people had facial injuries," Shola Mene said.

The RMT union said it had received reports that passengers and onboard train staff have sustained what it described as "serious injuries".

The Rail Accident Investigation branch said it was in Bedford trying to find out exactly what had happened.

It said in a statement on X: "A team of RAIB inspectors is on site at the scene of a collision between two trains near Elstow, to start gathering evidence."

Which train services were involved?

East Midlands Railway has confirmed two of its trains were involved in the collision.

A spokesperson said: "The 16:40 EMR train from Corby to London St Pancras has been involved in a collision with 15:50 Nottingham [to] London St Pancras, at Bedford South.

"We are currently on the scene and working with Network Rail to assist the emergency services.

"Further updates will be provided as soon as more information is established."

The train company had earlier posted online that services to and from London St Pancras were suspended for the rest of the day.

What have the emergency services said?

British Transport Police says it is responding to a collision between two trains in the Bedford area.

"We understand that people are concerned about relatives or friends who may have been travelling on the trains involved in the incident near Bedford," a spokesperson added.

"We're asking people not to travel to the scene and await further updates from emergency services."

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "Crews are currently in attendance at an incident on the railway just south of Bedford.

"Please avoid the area. Thank you for your co-operation."

East of England Ambulance Service said: "We have sent a number of resources, including air ambulance and our Hazardous Area Response Team, to a major incident on the railway south of #Bedford. We encourage people to avoid the area.

"Further updates will be provided in due course. Please only call 999 in an emergency."

What has been the reaction from politicians?

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was worried by reports of the collision.

She said on X: "I'm deeply concerned to hear reports of the collision involving two East Midlands Railway passenger trains.

"I'm grateful to emergency services who are on the scene, attending to those affected.

"We're working quickly with the rail industry and local partners to support passengers."

Bedford and Kempston MP Mohammad Yasin said the "very serious" incident was "really concerning" and told the BBC he believed there was "a number of casualties".

Health Secretary James Murray said: "I am being kept updated on the collision of two trains between Luton and Bedford.

"A number of people have been injured and I thank first responders who are helping those affected."

18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21

18:37 Westbury to Swindon due 19:21 has been delayed at Chippenham and is now 29 minutes late.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system earlier today.

I thought that the official view was that IETs are so much better than the HSTs they replaced. And that only I and a FEW others felt otherwise.

I can't speak for the 387s, but the IETs are certainly ageing - very prematurely !! They are in far worse condition that the HSTs ever were at that age - in fact, I would say that HSTs were in better "nick" at twice that age.

Agreed, but it doesn't explain why the other people who were seriously injured were also only in the rear carriage. Or am I reading it wrong?

The gentleman who passed away suffered, I believe, a heart attack brought on by the shock / distress of what was going on around him.  With that logic, does it seem a little less odd?

I could understand that if it was just one person perhaps with health issues, but the fact that the other seriously injured were also there - seems odd?

"Ageing fleet"? The IETs have largely only been in service for 8-10 years, the 387 Electrostars much the same!

Unpleasant Telegraph headline IMO - "Train driver missed chance to avoid fatal crash".

30mph. Ugh. Passenger here: to any drivers reading this, in the most unlikely case that you find your train is in this predicament, it's fine, once you've set its systems to do their best, to see you out of your cab and heading down the first carriage.

The 66-year-old was a passenger in the rear carriage of the train to Aberystwyth, as were other people who were seriously injured in the crash just before 19:00 on 21 October, 2024.

"Ageing fleet"? The IETs have largely only been in service for 8-10 years, the 387 Electrostars much the same!

I would agree with you both.

The current GWR team have an aging fleet to deal with, and also what seems like a worsening infrastructure scenario - though that could be that they're ever more careful now on safety grounds.  It feels like the bridge at Limpley Stoke is closed and trains diverted via Chippenham on a weekly basis, for example, which does not help CDF -> PMH ... and the blame cannot be apportioned to GWR (First employees and contractors) on that sort of issue.

Where I (and others in WWRUG, for example) have noticed an issue is that GWR management is far less available and responsive than it used to be, with an extra layer of marketeers on filtering the technical team, and a very controlled approach of answering less / slower that they used to, and answering with answers that don't answer the question (if you get what I mean) but rather tell us similar / linked data that does not actually address the issue.

I and others are somewhat at a loss about what to do about this (if there is anything we can do).  We do not wish to be "squeaky wheels".   We do not want to shout issues in public, especially in those cases where things are getting slightly better.  And we want to be able to promote the services with them.  Of course, our failure on things like getting a CCIF grant, or the afternoon peak service at DMH replaced now that the original runs empty to aid reliability, or even to get a single call on 1st August in a Weymouth train for a special day out (and that WAS promised ...) is frustrating.

Is it "end of term blues?".  Is it that other newer things such as as the Oxford service, Newquay and Okehampton are now the fashion / focus?  Is it that they are far more ruled by DfT, not interested in anything except short term and impressing the new bosses?   Is it that born and bred train people are replaced more by bright and lovely people but who are new to rail, and perhaps look at costs and accounts and not passenger needs?  Is it an increased regulation and complexity that removes and flexibility and friendliness? I don't know the answer. 

Clearly not the complete picture. There are a number of significant mismatches between All Cancellations & GWR Cancellations in the data and they can only or largely be down to Network Rail. The seemingly daily PAD <> RDG infrastructure failures must be a major contributor to a pretty bleak report.

.....Anyone else think standards are clearly slipping now, in run up to their nationalisation.