Royal Mail has issued an urgent statement warning that some deliveries in the Midlands may take longer due to the ongoing record-breaking heatwave. The postal service normally aims to deliver letters six days a week and parcels on Sundays, but extreme temperatures are causing disruptions.
Heatwave Triggers Red Alert Across Midlands
A rare red alert has been declared across southern England and the Midlands, including Birmingham, as well as parts of Wales. Temperatures are forecast to reach 36°C today and 39°C tomorrow, with the possibility of hitting 40°C. The extreme heat has already led to school closures and widespread train cancellations.
Affected Postcodes
Several postcode areas are experiencing delivery delays, including Wolverhampton, Lichfield, Kidsgrove, and others. The full list includes Ashington (NE22, NE62-NE64), Altens (AB10-AB12, AB35), Banbury (OX15-OX17), Bedford (MK40-MK45), Bicester (OX25-OX27), Bridge of Don (AB22-AB23), Brierley Hill (DY5), Carmarthen (SA17, SA31-SA33), Carterton (OX18), Deeside (CH5), Dursley (GL11-GL13), Gosforth (NE3, NE13), Hailsham (BN27), Kidsgrove (ST7), Kingswinford (DY6), Lichfield (WS7, WS13, WS14), Llangollen (LL20), Margate (CT7-CT9), Nantwich (CW5), New Ferry (CH32, CH62, CH63), North Tyneside (NE25-NE30), Northwich (CW8, CW9), Oxford East (OX3, OX4, OX33, OX44, OX49), Patchway (BS32, BS34, BS35), Pontyclun (CF72), Southam (CV47), St Helens (WA9-WA11), Swindon (SN1-SN3, SN6, SN25, SN26, SN38, SN99), Teignmouth (TQ14), Tipton (DY4), Tiverton (EX16, EX18), Upton (CH30, CH49), Wallingford (OX10, OX49), Warrington (WA1, WA2, WA4, WA5, WA55), and Wolverhampton NE (WV11-WV12).
Royal Mail Statement on Safety
Royal Mail said: "Our posties and drivers are taking extra care in the heat to keep themselves and our customers safe... thank you for your patience if deliveries take a little longer." The company added: "We aim to deliver to all addresses we have mail for, six days a week. In a small number of local offices, this may temporarily not be possible due to local issues such as high levels of sick absence, resourcing, or other local factors. In those cases, we will rotate deliveries to minimise the delay to individual customers. We also provide targeted support to those offices to address their challenges and restore our service to the high standard our customers would normally receive. We're sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding."
Performance and Fines
Despite the warnings, Royal Mail's air and road network has run according to schedule over the previous 24 hours. However, the company faced criticism and a £21 million fine from Ofcom in October after missing delivery targets. In 2024-2025, only 77% of First Class mail and 92.5% of Second Class mail were delivered on time. This year, Royal Mail aims to improve First Class Next Day delivery to approximately 85% within nine months, then to 90% within a year as required by Ofcom.
Chief Operating Officer's Comments
Jamie Stephenson, Royal Mail's chief operating officer, stated: "We're putting significant investment into improving reliability and reaching these new delivery targets, but delivering lasting change across a network of this scale takes time. Universal Service reform is a key part of that, helping us adapt the network to reflect how people send and receive mail today while protecting the one-price-goes-anywhere service for the future. We have a plan to deploy the new delivery model to all delivery offices across the country by the Christmas peak period and have set clear targets for each quarter as changes are introduced across the network. Early performance this year shows we are tracking in line with the plan and moving in the right direction."
