Royal Mail issues urgent warning today as 91 UK postcodes face late deliveries

Royal Mail issues urgent warning today as 91 UK postcodes face late deliveries A statement has been issued amid the record-breaking heatwave Royal Mail has issued an update on its services amid the heatwave. The delivery firm aims to post letters six days a week, while parcel deliveries also take place on Sundays. The UK is currently in the middle of a record-breaking heatwave, with schools closing and trains being cancelled or delayed. Royal Mail has said some of its deliveries may "take a little longer" as a result. A rare red alert has been issued across the south of England and the midlands covering London, Somerset and Birmingham as well as parts of Wales including Swansea and Cardiff. Mercury is predicted to hit 36°C today and 39°C tomorrow, and may even reach 40°C. A number of postcode areas are facing delayed deliveries, including Oxford, Wolverhampton, Swindon, Carmarthen and North Tyneside. 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." "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." Despite the delay warnings, Royal Mail's air and road network has operated to schedule over the past 24 hours. Royal Mail has faced criticism over late deliveries and was fined £21million by Ofcom in October as a result. The company missed its targets after it delivered just 77% of First Class post and 92.5% of Second Class post on time in 2024 to 2025. This year, Royal Mail has set out improve targets. It is aiming to improve First Class Next Day delivery to around 85% within nine months, before reaching the 90% target set by regulator Ofcom within a year. Jamie Stephenson, Royal Mail’s chief operating officer, said: “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." Royal Mail delivery delays today - Ashington DO (NE22, NE62, NE63, NE64) - Altens DO (AB10, AB11, AB12, AB35) - Banbury DO (OX15, OX16, OX17) - Bedford DO (MK40, MK41, MK42, MK43, MK44, MK45) - Bicester DO (OX25, OX26, OX27) - Bridge Of Don DO (AB22, AB23) - Brierley Hill DO (DY5) - Carmarthen DO (SA17, SA31, SA32, SA33) - Carterton DO (OX18) - Deeside DO (CH5) - Dursley DO (GL11, GL12, GL13) - Gosforth DO (NE3, NE13) - Hailsham DO (BN27) - Kidsgrove DO (ST7) - Kingswinford DO (DY6) - Lichfield DO (WS7, WS13, WS14) - Llangollen SUDO (LL20) - Margate DO (CT7, CT8, CT9) - Nantwich DO (CW5) - New Ferry DO (CH32, CH62, CH63) - North Tyneside DO (NE25-NE30) - Northwich DO (CW8, CW9) - Oxford East DO (OX3, OX4, OX33, OX44, OX49) - Patchway DO (BS32, BS34, BS35) - Pontyclun DO (CF72) - Southam DO (CV47) - St Helens DO (WA9, WA10, WA11) - Swindon DO (SN1, SN2, SN3, SN6, SN25, SN26, SN38, SN99) - Teignmouth DO (TQ14) - Tipton DO (DY4) - Tiverton DO (EX16, EX18) - Upton DO (CH30, CH49) - Wallingford DO (OX10, OX49) - Warrington DO (WA1, WA2, WA4, WA5, WA55) - Wolverhampton NE DO (WV11-WV12) [Image text:] Royal Mail 6.30 12.30 PRIORITY POSTBOX