
c2c contactless overpayments to continue until 29 June
Train passengers have been warned they could be mistakenly overcharged for their journeys until late June.The issue has been affecting people using contactless payments on some c2c services between Essex and London.Automatic refunds were being arranged for those who had been charged an additional £3 per trip, the train operator said.It expected the situation to be resolved by 29 June.
Only journeys to or from stations outside Zone 6 - and that started at either Fenchurch Street or Liverpool Street in London - have been affected.
'Extremely sorry'
Transport for London (TfL) has been working with c2c to resolve the issue, which was first reported on Wednesday.The first round of refund payments would be made over the weekend, c2c added.Commercial director Eleni Jordan said a "technical issue" was causing the overpayments."We are extremely sorry for any inconvenience caused and appreciate our customers' understanding and patience," he said.
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Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Forget The Salt Path – this tale of Britain's ancient stone sites is superb
Stay awake all night, and you'll find that euphoria hits you with the dawn. It was with a similar euphoria to the one Fiona Robertson describes at solstice festivals that I finished her poignant, scholarly and poetic book. Stone Lands is about ancient standing stones and their cultural significance. Robertson has hunted down megalithic sites all her life, and for 20 years she shared this enthusiasm with her husband Stephen. After his early death from cancer she continued to visit them; as such this is also a memoir about that loss and the beginnings of her recovery. The Greek poet Michaelis Ganas wrote that 'duration is passion', and Robertson's book is cleverly crafted to explore that principle both in the survival of extraordinary neolithic monuments and the relationship with her husband, cut short in their 50s. In episodic travels, she visits stones in Avebury and Pembrokeshire, the Isle of Mull and Dartmoor, the Medway and Taransay, the Scilly Isles and Iona. She's more fascinated by druidical and pagan groups than part of them, and at solstice events she's an observer, like most travel writers – no bad thing. But when it comes to megaliths, she's absolutely part of the movement. She knows her stones, the places they sit, the reasons that they sit in the ways that they do. She knows about the websites like the megalithic portal (try it: it's endless fun), and the difference between the sandstone and the granite, the slate and the quartz. She also knows the theories and stories about the stones' making. These are mysteries so deep they'll never be solved, but some speculate that megalithic sites were places of healing pilgrimage – a kind of neolithic Lourdes – or stone family trees. Most famously, stones such as Stonehenge which align with the sun of the winter solstice are believed to map the turn of the year towards spring, or even, in the case of the Calanais site on the Isle of Lewis, to provide a landscape-size tool for measurement of the lunar calendar. I would have enjoyed even more speculation about the reasoning behind the efforts of man to build these structures, but perhaps the tenuous evidence doesn't justify it. Still, she writes lucidly about the archaeological histories of the stone circles. Here Robertson adds all the layers of interest stamped on the ground by writers and artists who have been inspired by standing stones; their writing maps some of the cycles of interest and destruction that the stones have gone through. There's the archaeologist John Aubrey, for example, whose book Monumenta Britannica marks him out as 'the first true stones obsessive' in the 17th century; then there's the physician William Stukeley, who fought against the spoilage of stone circles for use in building. Finally, she quotes Paul Nash, bemoaning the restoration of Avebury henge which left it 'dead as a mammoth in the Natural History Museum '. Robertson is at her most impressive as a writer describing her love for Stephen. Most people, I suspect, can sympathise with both the love and the horror of illness and loss which is so painfully and beautifully described here. But what is more unusual is how Robertson reflects so profoundly on the ways that places add to that love and passion, and provide anchoring points across the years of a relationship. The couple's first long walk along the Ridgeway in high summer to Wayland's Smithy, with blisters and light hearts, can be directly compared to her emotions on an autumnal visit after the failure of Stephen's chemotherapy, and to Robertson's May visit after his death. Philosophical it may be, overblown it isn't. There's a beautiful reality here – Robertson's children come with her on these trips, not expunged as other writers' children might have been – and we see them kicking their heels on megaliths and eating chocolate biscuits in the rain. Sometimes the stones are impossible to find, or so small they seem completely insignificant. It's also hard to write well about death: most writers are dragged under by the weight of its profundity, and entangled in the seaweed strands of its macabre and almost disgusting sentimentality. It's easier, perhaps, to write about love, but not love of duration and happiness. Robertson manages to do both with originality and clarity, and can occasionally be very funny too. Mostly, though, her book has the purity of one about holidays, and so deals with death in slices of pure feeling. That's how you link the deeply personal, with its sometimes confusing detail to the transcendent weirdness of the landscape over 5,000 years ago. It is in the mists of this parallel world that the book ends, not with a miracle of 'healing', but with euphoria: how strange it is that our ephemeral ancestors left landscapes which can help us confront our own mortality, Robertson reflects, and so gave us temples to hope.


Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Thunderstorms and flooding expected to follow hottest day of the year
Warnings are in place for flooding and thunderstorms across large parts of the UK, with stormy weather set to last until early evening. It follows the hottest day of the year on Friday, which saw a high of 29.4C (84.9F) in Santon Downham in Suffolk. The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning until 6pm across the South West, North East and North of England, Wales and much of Scotland. Check the weather forecast where you are They said there had been over 30,000 lightning strikes during the night, with the "vast majority" over the sea. The Met Office has warned some areas could see 30-50mm of rain in a few hours, while a few locations could reach up to 80mm. At the same time, strong wind gusts and hail accompanying the storms could potentially bring road flooding, difficult driving conditions, power cuts and flooding of homes and businesses. The Environment Agency urged the public not to drive through flood water, reminding drivers that "just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car." A further yellow warning is in force in the eastern half of Northern Ireland from 6am to 6pm on Saturday, while a similar warning has been in place across the South East of England overnight following an amber alert on Friday. Kent experienced heavy rainfall overnight, with flooded roads in parts of Dover, while a fire in a residential building in St Leonards-on-Sea on Friday night was likely caused by a lightning strike, the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service say. Devon received five flood warnings overnight by the Environment Agency, alongside 46 flood alerts in the South West, South East and Midlands. A further six flood alerts have been put in place by Natural Resources Wales in South Wales. National Rail said a landslip had stopped all services between Exeter St Davids and Okehampton, with the weather conditions meaning it is not safe for engineers to reach the site. Disruption is expected until around 1pm. Other rail operators also warned customers to check for updates on services on Saturday morning. Heathrow Airport apologised to passengers late on Friday night for flights delayed by "adverse weather conditions". Sky News weather producer Steff Gaulter said: "The most active thunderstorms are over parts of Wales, Northern Ireland, Northern England and Scotland, and some are still bringing localised downpours and strong winds. "The storms will continue northwards, becoming largely confined to Northern Ireland and Scotland by the afternoon. Elsewhere will see a mixture of sunshine and showers, with the showers tending to ease during the day. "Then from tomorrow an area of high pressure will start to stretch towards us, and the weather next week is looking far calmer and quieter." Despite the risk of heavy showers and thunderstorms, not everyone will see rain during the day, with the driest and brightest weather expected in the South East, which will remain very warm. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued its first yellow heat-health alert of the year, active until 8am on Sunday in the east of England, East Midlands, London, and the South East. Under the UKHSA and the Met Office's weather-health alerting system, a yellow alert means there could be an increased use of healthcare services by vulnerable people. A yellow alert warns of a possible spike in vulnerable people accessing healthcare, and health risks for the over-65s and those with conditions such as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. While scientists have not assessed the role of global warming in this short-term event, in general they expect more heavy downpours as the climate changes. That's largely because hotter air can hold more moisture and so releases more water when it rains.


The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Flood warning as UK braces for thunderstorms after hottest day of the year
Flooding and thunderstorms are threatening to cause disruption to large parts of the UK after the hottest day of the year so far was recorded on Friday. The Met Office has issued a yellow thunderstorm warning, in place until 6pm on Saturday, with experts warning that driving could become difficult and some communities could become cut off by flooding. The thunderstorm warning covers the south west, north east, north of England, Wales and much of Scotland. The Met Office has warned that some areas could see 30-50mm of rain in a few hours, while a few locations could reach up to 80mm. Trains and buses could be delayed, and homes and businesses could flood, the forecaster predicted. The warning comes after Santon Downham in Suffolk recorded 29.4C on Friday, setting a new high for the year. An amber thunderstorm warning was also in place overnight for parts of the east and south east of England. More than 30,000 lightning strikes were recorded up to 6am on Saturday as storms pushed northwards, although the Met Office said the 'vast majority' had been over the sea. A further yellow warning comes into force in the eastern half of Northern Ireland from 6am to 6pm on Saturday. Kent also experienced heavy rainfall overnight, with flooded roads in parts of Dover. A lightning strike was the likeliest cause of a fire in a residential building in St Leonards-on-Sea on Friday night, according to East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. It said there were no reports of casualties and the fire had been extinguished. In Devon, where North Wyke near Okehampton saw 36.4mm of rain on Friday, five flood warnings were issued overnight by the Environment Agency, alongside 46 flood alerts in the south west, south east and Midlands. National Rail said a landslip had stopped all services between Exeter St Davids and Okehampton, with the weather conditions meaning it is not safe for engineers to reach the site. Disruption is expected until 1pm. Rail operators warned customers to check for updates on services on Saturday morning, while Heathrow Airport apologised to passengers late on Friday night for flights delayed by 'adverse weather conditions'. Met Office chief meteorologist Steve Ramsdale said: 'While the warnings cover the areas of the country most at risk of seeing thunderstorms, not everyone within a warning area will experience a thunderstorm. For many, it will remain dry much of the time' Heavy showers and thunderstorms are expected to ease slightly throughout the day, with the driest and brightest weather in the South East, which will remain very warm. The Met Office said showers will continue to ease through Sunday, with dry weather for most of the country on Monday and Tuesday. Katharine Smith, flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said: 'There is a risk of significant and localised surface water flooding impacts in parts of England. 'Environment Agency teams have ensured rivers and watercourses are clear ahead of the storms and stand ready to support local authorities in their response to surface water flooding. 'We urge people not to drive through flood water as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car.'