Rail passengers are being urged to "only travel if necessary" after the first-ever red weather warning for extreme heat was issued for Suffolk.

The extreme temperatures has caused major disruption to rail services across the county as Greater Anglia announced they would be running fewer trains to and from London throughout Monday and Tuesday and services will be running at a reduced speed.

A number of services were cancelled between Ipswich and Cambridge as a result of the high temperatures.

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia's managing director, said: “We are very sorry to be disrupting our customers’ travel plans, but the safety of our customers and rail staff is of paramount importance.

“Our trains will be running at lower speeds because we want to minimise the risk of heat-related damage to the railway tracks and signals, which could then cause huge delays in record-breaking, sweltering temperatures putting our passengers at risk of falling ill due to the heat.

“While we have air conditioning on the majority of our trains now, if they are held up in long delays and the power to the train is cut off, temperatures would rise and it could become very uncomfortable.

“Please listen to the weather warnings, stay cool, drink plenty of water and avoid travelling on Monday and Tuesday.”

The extreme temperatures has not caused as much disruption to travel on Suffolk's roads, although a number of planned roadworks have been pushed back to later in the week.

Due to the red weather warning being in place, the planned works for Bourne Road and Chelmer Road in Haverhill will now start on Wednesday, July 20.

Recently during the hot weather the A140 was closed after high temperatures made the road unsafe.

Police were forced to close the road until repairs were carried out.

With the high temperatures expected again tomorrow the Met Office has warned of more travel disruption with road closures and rail cancellations likely.