Drought Becomes Structural Risk to UK Rail as Speed Limits Return

Network Rail will impose speed restrictions and timetable changes across English routes from 3 August 2026, as drying clay-soil embankments destabilise track. Similar measures were used in summer 2025. Engineers plan to lay 49,000 tonnes of ballast — the crushed stone that anchors rails — to counter the effects. The UK is entering its fourth heatwave of the year.