TRAINS were finally running again between London and York this afternoon after urgent repairs to signalling equipment, needed following yesterday's heatwave, kept the East Coast Mainlne closed.

The route, which was shut between York and London yesterday in anticipation of the record temperatures, was originally set to reopen this morning.

However, urgent repairs were needed between London Kings Cross and Peterborough, meaning no trains were operating south of Peterborough until at least noon, and LNER again advised passengers not to travel at all today.

It said that should lines reopen, there would be a reduced service to and from London Kings Cross for the remainder of today. 

It said its tickets would be valid for use on any LNER train tomorrow or on Friday, or people could otherwise have a full refund.

It said: "Following the severe weather and high tempeatures on Tuesday 19 July, a fire near the railway south of Peterborough has caused significant damage to signalling equipment.

"Network Rail are working to repair this as quickly as possible, but the extent of the damage means that services will be disrupted for the duration of today, Wednesday 20 July. 

"There are numerous reports of damage to tracks, signalling equipment and overhead lines across the UK rail networks, including the routes we would typically redirect our customers to. With that in mind, unfortunately it will not be possible to complete your journey with another operator via these routes today."

LNER tweeted this afternoon that the following trains will now run as scheduled:

14:30 #KingsCross to #Edinburgh

15:30 #KingsCross to #GlasgowCentral

16:30 #KingsCross to #Edinburgh

17:30 #KingsCross to #Edinburgh

19:30 #KingsCross to #Newcastle.