But the heat wave melted a British runway
“Flights in and out RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire have been halted because the “runway has melted” in the hot weather, Sky News understands,” reads the tweet.
Or was it because of a “bodged resurfacing job” last year? Whatever. Planes could not fly.
Climate change has reached Europe (ABC News):
LONDON — The U.K. on Tuesday posted its highest temperature on record, breaking 40 degrees Celsius for the first time, after government officials declared a national emergency and issued unprecedented health warnings.
The British Meteorological office issued its first-ever “Red warning” in response to the heat wave.
The heat wave in Britain, which has been linked to climate change, follows a weekend of wildfires and soaring deadly temperatures in France, Portugal and Spain.
“We hoped we wouldn’t get to this situation but for the first time ever we are forecasting greater than 40°C in the U.K.,” Dr. Nikos Christidis, a climate attribution scientist at the Met Office, said. “Climate change has already influenced the likelihood of temperature extremes in the U.K. The chances of seeing 40°C days in the UK could be as much as 10 times more likely in the current climate than under a natural climate unaffected by human influence.”
British trains imposed slower speed limits as a precaution (The Guardian):
Higher temperatures spreading north led to Scotrail on Monday following England and Wales in slowing down trains for safety. Trains across Britain were limited to a 90mph maximum, while on the east coast line linking London, York and Edinburgh the top speed was halved to 60mph.
The east coast line is predicted to experience the hottest temperatures, and some of its infrastructure, including for the wires and track, are more susceptible to damage in heat than other parts of the UK railway. The line will be closed entirely south of Leeds and York on Tuesday.
Across the Channel over the weekend, the Tour de France was dumping thousands of liters of water on pavement reaching temperatures of 60 C in the heat.
“In certain places, the asphalt is going to start melting, not everywhere of course, but it is going to get much softer,” French departments road safety organiser Andre Bancala told AFP. “So you can imagine how that might end?” The Tour keeps a truck for that purpose, so the dousing is not unprecedented. But still.
The Tour can find plenty of water in New York’s subways, where torrential rains are overwhelming existing drainage infrastructure (WABC):
Wild weather wreaked havoc in parts of the Tri-State area as heavy storms rolled through Monday, flooding highways, streets and subway stations.
In New York City, subway service was restored just before the morning commute on the A line, north of 181st Street station, after a large amount of water flooded the Dyckman Street station in Inwood.
And the Great Salt Lake is drying up‘. It has lost two-thirds of its size already, “causing a dangerous ecological ripple effect throughout Utah.”
Someone tell Joe Manchin. Just for shits and giggles. It won’t move him.
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