United Kingdom: Roads Are Melting Into Black Goo Amid Rising Temperatures
Tarmac can revert back to a liquid state once it reaches a certain temperature and two roads across northern England have melted with motorists left feeling like they were 'driving through water'
Thanks to global warming, the heatwave has taken over the United Kingdom. It is so hot in the country that roads are melting in the country.
Streets turn into black goo in the UK
The Broadstone Road in Stockport, Greater Manchester, turned into a kind of black goo as the heat liquified the roads made of asphalt.
An onlooker said that his feet sank into the soft road surface. He added that it sounded like the cars were "driving through water", Manchester Evening News reported. They added: "It sounded like it had just rained and the cars were driving through the puddles. "It was that soft your feet got stuck in it if you walked across. The tarmac was all stuck in the treads of my tyres."
Greater Manchester hit a record 34.2 degrees Celsius on July 19 beating the previous record of 33.9 C in July 2019. However, the temperature on road surfaces went up to 50C making them soft. This is because the road surface tends to absorb heat over the day. When the temperatures rise, the roads are gritted to prevent them from melting.
Howard Robinson, chief executive of the Road Surface Treatments Association, was quoted saying to The Mirror, "Drivers may be bemused to see the gritters out in the summer when they are usually spreading grit and salt during the winter. However, this is an effective standard practise for keeping a road surface safe during extreme prolonged hot temperatures.
Asphalt is a bit like chocolate ¨C it melts and softens when it¡¯s hot and goes hard and brittle when it¡¯s cold ¨C it doesn¡¯t maintain the same strength all year round."
Temperature breaks all-time record in the UK
The country is experiencing severe heat waves, with temperature breaking all-time records and power outages due to overheating of equipment. This is also causing a lot of house fires in the country. Not only was the reading of 104 F (40.2 C) a new all-time record in the U.K., but officials said it was also the first time in recorded history that the country has exceeded over 40 degrees Celsius.
According to Accu Weather, the record was first set on Tuesday in the village of Charlwood, England, located in the southeastern part of the country. During this time, the temperature reached 102.4 F (39.1 C).
Climate change is the real thing and authorities need to take note.
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