UK travel chaos as runways melt and roadsides burn in southern England

RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire was one the UK airfields shut due to melting runway. Photo / David Goddard, Getty Images

A busy North London airport runway had to halt flights after extreme heat began to melt the runway.

Luton International Airport halted air traffic during the height of the Summer travels for maintenance, on Sunday. Urgent repairs were conducted to fix "defects" caused by the ongoing heatwave which is sweeping the UK.

"Following today's high temperatures, a surface defect was identified on the runway," said the airport in a statement earlier this week.

"Engineers were called immediately to site and repair works are currently in progress to resume operations as soon as possible.

"We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused."

Hundreds of passengers, myself included, stranded at Luton Airport as over 30 flights delayed indefinitely now due to runway melting in extreme high temperatures @ReutersUK @CNBC @DailyMirror @DailyMailTV @DailyMail @virginnewsng pic.twitter.com/uj680fmhPB

— Alison Cybe (@AlisonCybe) July 18, 2022

Served by only a single runway, flights and travellers had to be diverted via other London airports.

Luton will find a way to charge you for the privilege of a melting runway https://t.co/8ycZzcKGk2

— Roland Oliphant (@RolandOliphant) July 19, 2022

Other airports were also affected by the heat with RAF Brize Norton closed at the beginning of the week.

The Airport in Oxfordshire which is home to the Royal Air Force said that it had to use contingency plans to keep flying.

"During this period of extreme temperature flight safety remains the RAF's top priority, so aircraft are using alternative airfields in line with a long-established plan. This means there is no impact on RAF operations," read a statement from the UK MoD.

Also providing civilian and cargo links to destinations such as South Georgia and the sub Antarctic Islands, such destinations must have seemed very far away in temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius.

Huge fire at Dartford Heath pretty much 2 min walk from my house ⚠️🔥😲😣 🔥 pic.twitter.com/c1FPOp95mj

— ⚽️ Tim Cross ⚽️ (@T1MMMYCR055) July 19, 2022

Air traffic was not the only transport affected by this week's extreme weather.

National Rail services warned of disruption and late running services, due to the reduced speed limits enforced on tracks that were not made for high temperatures.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said that the city's fire services had declared a major incident "in response to a huge surge in fires across the capital today," after receiving 1,600 calls regarding wildfires.

Road Links including the A2 in Dartford, Kent were affected by scrub fires. Firefighters shut lanes of the busy A-road out of London.

Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 July

Only travel if essential due to the high temperatures forecast

💦 Stay hydrated
🤒 Seek assistance if you feel unwell
🤳 Check your journey before you travel

— TfL - keep hydrated 💦👍🏿 (@TfL) July 18, 2022