--- title: "UK Shuts Down Air Force Base When It Got So Hot the Runway Melted" description: "Things are getting steamy in England — quite literally, in the case of one Royal Air Force base where it got so hot, the runway actually melted." date: "2022-07-18" modified: "2022-07-18" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/uk-base-heatwave" categories: - "Climate Change" - "Environment" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "bitumen" - "british military" - "climate change" - "heatwave" - "royal air force" - "tarmac" - "the digest" - "United Kingdom" --- # UK Shuts Down Air Force Base When It Got So Hot the Runway Melted ![Things are getting steamy in England — quite literally, in the case of one Royal Air Force base where it got so hot, the runway actually melted.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## I'm Melting England is getting [cooked by a deadly heatwave]() — literally, in the case of one Royal Air Force base, where it got so hot, the runway actually *melted*. As the [UK's *Sky News* reports,]() planes had to be rerouted from the Brize Norton air base near London when the base had to shut down over the heat that reached record high temperatures. As *Sky News*' [Deborah Norton noted in a tweet thread]() announcing the closure, an RAF spokesperson said, with ample British curtness, that "the runway has melted." "During this period of extreme temperature flight safety remains the RAF’s top priority," the RAF [said in a Twitter statement](), "so aircraft are using alternative airfields in line with a long-established plan. This means there is no impact on RAF operations." ## Tarmac Special The issue of melting tarmac during the UK's brutal heatwave, in which temperatures have hovered around 98-100 degrees Fahrenheit in the London metropolitan area and are expected to climb even higher, isn't exclusive to the British military. As [the *BBC* reported over the weekend](), road crews have been on standby in parts of England where surface temperatures got as high as 122 degrees Fahrenheit, causing the tarmac to become a "tacky and dangerous" mess of bubbly guck. The report notes that in spite of the record-high heatwave, this is not the first time it's gotten hot enough in the UK to melt tarmac, though it hasn't happened there since 2006, when rock salt had to be spread on the road to unstick the roads. It's hard to say whether it's worse for cars or planes to have to deal with melting tarmac, but it's certainly a mess either way. **READ MORE:** ['Melted Runway' Halts Flights Out of British Military Base]() \[*Gizmodo*\] **More RAF weirdness:** [*Millionaire Refurbishing Cold War Radar Unit to Hunt UFOs*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()