Passengers were forced to walk along a railway track in sizzling heat after they claimed they were being “slow-cooked” inside a broken-down train carriage.
British Transport Police freed dozens of Thameslink passengers after the train between London Blackfriars and Herne Hill broke down on Saturday.
Temperatures soared to nearly 34C in some parts of the UK, making it the country’s hottest day of the year so far.
An enraged passenger said on social media: “We have been stuck on this hot and humid train for over an hour. It is like an oven in here and we are being slow-cooked.”
Passenger Clare added: “We are stuck on this train, all boiling alive. No air con. Please can you get this train moving.”
Another issued a plea for help, asking Thameslink when it would rescue people stuck inside the sweltering carriages with “no AC”.
Thameslink said the train broke down near Loughborough Junction due to a “fault”, which causes services across the network to undergo “significant disruption”.
A spokesperson said: “Earlier today, a fault on a train near Loughborough Junction brought all services to a halt in the area, three of them outside station platforms.
“Without power and air conditioning on such a hot day, we pulled all resources from across Sussex and Kent to get personnel on site to safely evacuate passengers as quickly as possible along the track.
“This would have been a difficult and uncomfortable experience for our passengers and we are truly sorry. The safest place was to remain on the trains while we worked our hardest to get help to those on board.”
An amber heat-health alert, issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) for the first time since September 2023, for all regions in England remains in place over the weekend.
The agency warned that significant impacts are likely across health and social care services, including an increase in demand, during the alert period.
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Imperial College London research warned that around 570 people could die due to the heat over the four days.
The excess deaths were estimated to peak at 266 on Saturday when the heat will be at its most intense. London was predicted to have the greatest number of excess deaths at 129.
The researchers said their assessment highlights how extreme heat poses a growing threat to public health in the UK.
Many charities have also issued warnings as the hotter weather continues this week. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is encouraging people with heart conditions to take precautions to minimise potential health risks during a heatwave.
Age UK has urged people to check in on older relatives, friends, and neighbours to see if they need anything and to make sure they are not feeling overwhelmed by the excessive heat.
Meanwhile, the Met Office has warned Britons that a tornado could hit as severe thunderstorms are set to strike the UK within hours.
The forecaster warned parts of the country “could start to see tornado activity” later on Saturday as a yellow thunderstorm weather warning comes into force.
