Britain’s hottest airport runway in 363 years swells, halting flights

Summer vacationers sunbathe and swim on Brighton Beach in southern England / Photo = Yonhap News (AFP)

The weather in England is the warmest since 1659, when meteorological observations began. In the sweltering heat, the runway swelled and the railroad tracks were twisted.

The U.S. Washington Post (WP) reported on the 18th (local time) that the British Meteorological Agency’s forecast that temperatures might reach 40 degrees Celsius might be the first in 363 years since meteorological observations began in earnest in 1659.

The current official high temperature in the UK is 38.7 degrees Celsius, recorded at the Cambridge Botanic Gardens on 25 July 2019. However, it is highly likely that the official record will be broken as the local daytime maximum temperature rises and falls by 40 degrees.

The UK has declared a national emergency by issuing a ‘level 4 red warning’, the highest heat wave warning for all of England the day before. This is in response to the unusually high daytime temperature expected to soar to 41 degrees Celsius.

The British Meteorological Agency’s Penelope Endersby told BBC Radio that day, “The temperature on the 19th is highly likely to exceed 40 degrees. The possibility of reaching 41 degrees cannot be ruled out.” “The temperature might rise to 43 degrees. There are also observations that it may be possible,” he said.

According to foreign media such as the New York Times (NYT) recently, Luton Airport, near London, UK, was temporarily suspended due to the runway swelling due to unusually high temperatures.

There have also been reports of distortions due to heat waves on railroad tracks passing through London. For safety reasons, the British Railways Authority (NR) has limited the speed of trains or canceled some routes.

In the UK, summer is relatively cool, with the average temperature reaching 20 degrees in July, but the sudden heat wave has prompted the British government to recommend working from home as much as possible for the time being.

In London Underground, air conditioning is not operating on most lines, so passengers have to endure the sweltering heat. Londoners are transferring to buses with relatively well-cooled conditions instead of the subway, the New York Times reported.

Ji-min Jang, Guest Reporter at Hankyung.com newsinfo@hankyung.com

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