The extreme heat is now also affecting British aviation. Due to the high temperatures that have persisted for days, the asphalt at Luton Airport has melted. As a result, many flights had to be diverted or even canceled on Monday.
Stranded passengers had to wait for hours at the terminals. Meanwhile, urgently needed repairs were made to the runway. These were released for air traffic again in the early evening. According to Sky News, Brize Norton military airport also suspended its flights on Monday. The runway there had also “melted,” a military source told the station.
Rail traffic partially paralyzed
On Tuesday, train traffic on parts of the island came to a standstill. As the network operator Network Rail announced, work on the main rail lines along England’s east coast and in the Midlands has been completely halted. People have been urged to change their travel plans. “We don’t take these decisions lightly. Our engineers are working very hard to assess the infrastructure’s resilience in the face of this record heat and we decided we had no choice but to shut it down,” Network Rail Manager Jake Kelly told the BBC.
Temperatures above 40 degrees were expected for large parts of England and the capital London at the beginning of this week. A new temperature record was set in the county of Suffolk at 38.1 degrees. Record temperatures were also recorded in other parts of the country, such as in the Welsh county of Flintshire with 37.1 degrees. And Tuesday, the mercury column could rise even further — the 40-degree mark could be cracked, especially in the east of the country.
Red weather warning for the UK
The previous temperature record inGreat Britainis 38.7 degrees and was measured in Cambridge in 2019. The British Met Office weather service issued a red weather warning for the first time at the end of last week heat issued. Tuesday night was the warmest since records began, according to the Met Office.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
