Latest news with #roadmelting
Top Gear
10 hours ago
- Climate
- Top Gear
Report: 98 per cent of Britain's road melted
Report: 98 per cent of Britain's road melted Experts find recent heatwave liquefied majority of British highways Skip 1 photos in the image carousel and continue reading Turn on Javascript to see all the available pictures. Here's roving correspondent, Cory Spondent, with his mostly incorrect exclusives from the world of motoring The vast majority of Britain's roads have melted following two successive heatwaves, according to experts. Advertisement - Page continues below Britain's penchant for endless rain, perpetual grey skies and general year-round weather misery meant a few days of uninterrupted sunshine had obliterated 98 per cent of its uniquely ruinous road network. Now experts are calling for a government task force to create a nationwide fleet of floating tanks able to navigate miles of liquefied tarmac. 'Nobody saw this coming,' a weather expert told 'More than two consecutive days of sunshine was a story we told our children at bedtimes. Or went abroad to discover and then complain about. 'But back-to-back days of 30-degree heat is categorically not something Britain is accustomed to, and something this country's road network and infrastructure is wholly unprepared for. Advertisement - Page continues below 'It's all gone. Melted. Every road dissolved beyond recognition and seeping its way back into the Earth's core. Right now, all our cars are basically Arnie in Terminator 2 sinking into the hot lava at the end. 'Only our cars aren't heroically putting their thumbs up,' the expert added. Meteorologists are predicting cooler temperatures into the next week, with some light and entirely predictable rain showers. 'Light rain? There goes the country's rail services. Bus replacement for you, friends,' a train operator noted. Top Gear Newsletter Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox. Success Your Email*
The Independent
3 days ago
- Climate
- The Independent
Snow gritters dispatched to stop roads from melting in sweltering heatwave
Gritters normally used to protect drivers in wintry conditions have been deployed in England over concerns this summer's heatwave could cause roads to melt. Central Bedfordshire Council said it is using the gritters to spread crushed stone in a bid to preserve the county's road surfaces. 'Some parts of Central Bedfordshire are experiencing very high road surface temperatures,' the local authority said in a post on Facebook. 'When this happens, tarmac can begin to soften, which may lead to surface damage.' When temperatures rise into the mid-30Cs, road surfaces can heat up to as high as 50C in the sunlight. Road surfaces, typically made from asphalt, can begin to melt at around this temperature, according to the Road Surface Treatments Association. They can melt even when the air temperature drops to 20C at the end of the day, as road surfaces absorb heat over the course of the day. Concerns over the road conditions come as the UK faced the hottest June on record. Other parts of Europe are also facing heatwaves, with soaring temperatures exacerbated by a heat dome. Amber alerts are now in place across several areas of England, indicating health and social care services are likely to be significantly impacted because of the heat. 'We're sending out gritters to spread a fine layer of crushed stone. This helps protect the road surface and provides extra grip for vehicles,' the council added. 'You might not expect to see gritters in summer, but it's an important part of looking after our roads during extreme weather conditions.'
