Britain was bracing for temperatures to hit 40°C for the first time on Tuesday after recording its hottest night on record, forcing train services to stop, some schools to close. and the closing of zoos to feed animals with large popsicles.
Britain, which may struggle to maintain major transport services in extreme heat or snow, has been placed on a “national emergency” alert as temperatures appear to surpass the previous record 38.7°C recorded in 2019
Transport Minister Grant Shapps said it would be many years before the UK could fully upgrade its infrastructure to cope with higher temperatures.
“We’ve seen a considerable amount of disruption to travel,” he told the BBC. “We will likely see the hottest day on record in the UK today, and the infrastructure, much of it built since Victorian times, was simply not built to withstand that kind of temperature.”
Much of Europe has been under a heat wave for more than a week that has set off wildfires in dry fields in Portugal, Spain and France.
In Britain, the heat has brought widespread travel problems and requests from train operators for people to use the service only if it is essential. Network Rail tweeted a photo on Monday showing a rail with a twist near London.
London’s Luton Airport suspended flights after a surface defect was found on the runway, and operations had to be diverted from the Royal Air Force’s Brize Norton, with a media report suggesting the runway had partially melted. .
Some rail services – including a major route between North East England and London – were cancelled.
The public was also warned not to swim in open water to cool off, with police reporting that two teenagers died after getting into trouble while swimming in a lake and river.
At least one major zoo in Chester said it would close while the Bristol Zoo said squirrel monkeys, parrots and red pandas were being fed frozen popsicles filled with vegetables, leaves or mealworms.
In central London, tourists from all over the world continued to visit major attractions such as Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London. In Trafalgar Square, many stopped to dip their hands, feet and heads in the fountain pools.
Reinier van den Heurel, who lives in Bucharest, said he was choosing his route through the capital based on the sun. “You walk from shade to shade, anywhere you have to be in the sun for a long time, that’s off limits,” he told Reuters.
Source: CNN Brasil
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