Record temperatures buckled overhead power cables and rails in northern France and southern England this week, prompting Eurostar to cancel multiple services between 5 and 9 July. The operator’s travel-update page, last refreshed at 17:53 CET on 8 July, lists wholesale cancellations for the period and warns that residual delays will continue once tracks cool. The disruption hits a strategic artery for cross-Channel commuters: more than 30 % of Eurostar’s Paris–London passengers are business travellers, including many corporate mobility assignees shuttling between French HQs and UK subsidiaries. Alternative air capacity is scarce because of the simultaneous air-traffic-controller strike, while road and ferry routes face EES-related bottlenecks at Calais. Eurostar is offering free exchanges or refunds within 60 days and has lifted refund caps for users of SNCF Connect and Trainline France. However, rail-only meeting itineraries may need to reroute via Lille-Brussels-London on Thalys/ICE if seats remain. Climate researchers at Météo-France note that track temperatures exceeded 45 °C near Amiens, levels likely to recur in future summers and to require enhanced rail-infrastructure resilience.
Source: Eurostar travel updates
