During this present heatwave I expect many travellers would be happy to find one of these as it is often difficult to fill a reusable bottle with water.  As a result a great number of plastic bottles are used in buying more water so Network Rail have taken steps to reduce the impact of plastic in some stations. I was passing through Manchester Piccadilly when I heard an announcement about the need to reduce plastic so the suggestion was that people could refill a bottle at the recently installed free Rehydration Point. When a bottle is placed below a sensor, cool water flows out so the bottle can be filled without touching and passing on germs from hands or the neck of bottle. It was very refreshing on this hot day to be able to fill my bottle with lovely cool water before catching the next train which in common with several others, was delayed.
Of the nine trains that I have used in the last three days, five have been delayed due to problems caused by the hot weather and there seemed to be continual announcements at the stations about delayed or cancelled trains.  Although the delays did mean missing connections it was not of any real hardship to me unlike it was with many others.  There was also a warning of potential disruption tomorrow on the West Coast line owing to the abnormal temperatures expected in the region.  It appears that in Britain our rail tracks cannot cope with high temperatures without signal or points failure and possible buckling.
Meanwhile the thick pall of smoke from the Saddleworth Moors fires hung over the north and west of Manchester with its strong smell causing very poor visibility. An acquaintance told me that her daughter who lived in the area hoped that she would not have to be out of her house for five weeks as had happened previously and her granddaughter’s school was now closed due to the smoke pollution. It seems that although many are enjoying the sunny weather, many others are hoping for very heavy downpours to quell the fires which are likely to smoulder underground in the peat.