The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued the red health warning for six regions of England
Extreme heat is expected to cause disruption this week as a rare red heat health alert was issued over fears it could hit 40C.
But are you entitled to compensation if essential services such as energy, internet and trains are interrupted? We explain your rights.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued the red health warning for six regions of England – the West Midlands, East Midlands, South East, South West, London, and east of England – from 1am on Wednesday until 11pm on Thursday.
A separate amber health alert has also been put in place for the North West, North East, and Yorkshire and the Humber for the same period.
Train delays and cancellations
Train travellers have been warned to expect delays and cancellations during this extreme weather. This is because heat can cause rails to expand and buckle.
You are generally entitled to compensation if you arrive at your final destination 15 minutes or more late. If your train is between 15 and 29 minutes late, you should get 25% of your ticket cost back.
For delays between 30 and 59 minutes, the refund is 50% of the ticket cost, and delays of over an hour normally trigger a 100% refund.
Delay compensation for a return ticket is typically calculated based on half the total cost of the return ticket, for the portion of the journey that was delayed, rather than the whole ticket price.
Internet outages
If your internet crashes during the hot weather, you may be entitled to compensation if the problem is not fixed quickly.
If your service is not fully fixed after two full working days, you get £10.34 for each calendar day that it isn’t repaired.
Or if an engineer does not turn up for a scheduled appointment, or it is cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice, you get £32.31 per missed appointment.
Power outages
Hot weather can increase energy demand, with the potential to lead to power outages. The higher demand for electricity is normally due to people using air conditioning units and fans to keep cool.
If your home is without power for more than 12 hours and less than 5,000 premises are affected, you can get £95 compensation.
This is followed by a further £45 for each additional 12 hours of supply being cut off.
For disruptions that impact more than 5,000 premises, you get £95 if you have been without power for more than 24 hours, followed by £45 for each additional 12 hours you’re left without supply, up to a total of £390.
If your gas supply is unexpectedly cut off, you are entitled to at least £70 in compensation for every 24-hour period you are without gas.
Water disruption
If your water supply is interrupted by an emergency and your supply is not restored within 12 hours of your supplier becoming aware of the problem, you are entitled to £20 compensation for the first 24 hours.
You then get an additional £10 for each further 24 hour period the supply remains unrestored. However, if it’s in a strategic main pipe, your supplier has 48 hours to fix the issue before compensation starts to apply.
Your water company should provide an alternative supply of water, for example, bottled water or tankers, if you are without supply for more than 12 hours.
However, you might not get compensation if the water company is prevented from restoring the supply because of the heat.
