Runway ‘melts’ at London Luton Airport has UK suffers in extreme heat | Daily Te...
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Runway melts at London Luton airport has temperatures in UK near 40C
One of London’s busiest airports was forced to close after the sweltering heat in the UK melted part of its runway.
Frustrated airline passengers had their travel plans delayed in Britain after the country’s extreme heatwave led to a runway melting at one of the country’s largest airports.
London Luton Airport, located 45km north of the UK capital, was forced to temporarily suspend flights – causing mayhem for families travelling during the summer holidays, reported The Sun.
London Luton is the UK’s fifth busiest airport.
The airport confirmed there was a “surface defect” caused by Monday’s weather which saw the mercury in some part of the country reaching rise to 38C.
“Following today’s high temperatures, a surface defect was identified on the runway.” London Luton Airport said in a statement,
“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.”
Images from the BBC showed staff working on a patch of the runway.
The airport, which mainly serve flights to European tourist destinations, only has one runway with flights reportedly being diverted to nearby airports.
It comes as the sweltering temperatures closed schools across the country and caused widespread travel delays.
The runway also “melted” at the RAF Brize Norton, military air base in Oxfordshire, west of London, on Monday as the UK struggled to cope with the weather.
Brits were urged to remain indoors as the mercury hit 37.5C in Kew Gardens, West London.
Meanwhile, popular attractions including Chester Zoo, Maldon Promenade Zoo in eastern England and York Maze in England’s north all shut due to the heat.
Beaches and amusement parks also closed their doors over fears sand would be “hot for children” as temperatures skyrocketed.
The UK’s highest of 38.7C was recorded in Cambridge in July 2019.
This story appeared in The Sun and is reproduced with permission.
Originally published as Runway melts at London Luton airport has temperatures in UK near 40C
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