Too hot for trains?

sir – Rail services have been delayed or cancelled due to the high temperatures.

Given the predictions that extreme heat is going to become much more frequent, is this going to be a regular summer event? And what is Network Rail doing about it? John B Winterburn

Earlswood, Surrey

sir – Now for the inevitable postheatwave thunderstorms, downpours and flooding.

I expect we will be given yet more “red” weather warnings, and advised, if we are unwise enough to venture outdoors, to wear waterproof clothing, Wellington boots and water wings. Mark Stephens

Hungerford, Berkshire

sir – People have been mocking the recent weather warnings, pointing out that Brits holiday without complaint in Spain, which is very hot in summer.

Yes, they do – but private homes in Spain have ceiling fans and air conditioning. These are far less common in Britain. I have lived on the Costa Blanca for 22 years and ceiling fans are indispensable. Unfortunately electricity is so expensive at peak times that it is virtually impossible to use air conditioning when it is required. Pauline Gale

Jávea, Alicante, Spain sir – When I was a child in Kuwait in the 1950s, my friends and I would happily play outside in temperatures of 50C.

Our houses and school were air conditioned down to the low 30s. The temperatures of the swimming pool and sea were also in the 30s.

The oil company news sheet would publish the daily shade temperatures without any hysterical outpourings. The highest I remember was 53.3C. Dr Roger Fox

Torquay, Devon sir – Some years ago a new managing director arrived at our Birmingham office, which was sweltering whenever the sun shone in.

Being a man of experience who had worked in Oman, he had the windows on the sunny side fitted with solar film, which reduced the heat in the office significantly. It seemed a fairly inexpensive solution to the problem. Alan Mordey

Leamington Spa, Warwickshire

sir – On Monday’s Today programme, listeners were advised not to call an ambulance unless they really had to.

Why else would somebody call one? RK Hodge

Chichester, West Sussex