Europe’s heatwaves: Too hot (for infrastructure) to handle

Conditions this summer in Europe underpin the same infrastructural fallout as periods of extreme heat have in years past: Roads, rails, trains, bridges, subway systems, and tools locals and tourists rely on to get around just aren’t built to handle it. And that makes heatwaves even more dangerous than they already are.

Trucks normally used to salt and sand icy roads during the winter (called ‘gritters’) have been spreading sand on the melting roadways in the UK, with older rural and south-facing roads, particularly in need of something to absorb the sticky tar bubbling to the surface, called bitumen. Driving when it’s hot also increases the risk of tires blowing out, engines overheating, and speeding up gas consumption. So now is probably not the best time for a road trip, even if the roads aren’t liquifying (yet).

Air travel isn’t spared the instability hot weather can bring, either. London’s Luton Airport has been forced to turn away arriving flights and pause departures when a runway defect from the heat was spotted. Yes, the tarmac was literally melting.

Recently, trains and subways have had to run more slowly in the heat, and certain lines of the London Underground stopped operating for a period due to damaged rails. A Victorian-era iron bridge had to be wrapped in protective foil like a roast in the oven to keep cracks from expanding. (You don’t see that often.)

Even low-carbon ways of traveling aren’t necessarily a better bet when the rubber meets the (melting) road. The climate protest that disrupted the Tour de France in the early stages of the race looked like foreshadowing when just a couple weeks later, race organizers resorted to spraying water on the roads to keep them cool and solid for the cyclists.

But cities and countries are going to continue to face this sort of problem as climate change increases the frequency and intensity of heat waves, Europe even more so than the rest of the world. Experts in those regions are calling on their governments to prioritize heat resiliency.

Other countries (where the norm is high temperatures similar to those that wreak havoc on European countries and the US) can offer lessons for more heat resilient design. Like in India, where the train system was able to run more or less as normal even as the country suffered through a heatwave (relative even to their usually high summer temperatures) in May. This is because the tracks there are laid with enough space to swell in the heat without breaking.

Some new projects in the EU are being built to withstand hotter temperatures, like the restored Notre-Dame featuring more shade-providing trees and Athens investing in pocket parks and cooling green roofs. Cities like London are releasing building guidelines that include heat resiliency. Overhauling existing infrastructure to meet those same guidelines would, unfortunately, be astronomically expensive and challenging.

And of course, the most important threat from extreme heat is to human health. Over 2,000 people died just in Spain and Portugal during this most recent round of scorching temperatures, and critical community safety groups like firefighters, ambulance workers, and hospital staff face additional challenges in hot weather. Plans to be better prepared for future heatwaves need to focus first on helping the most vulnerable community members stay cool, in addition to making infrastructure more heat-hardy.

So, definitely heed local heat-related travel advisories when planning your own travel this summer. And if you’re in an area with a historically cool climate, consider holding off on any trips that aren’t absolutely necessary until the mercury in thermostats has dropped back down to healthier levels. Collectively, we’re all on notice to start fortifying our infrastructure against extreme heat—heat waves are only going to keep getting hotter and longer, but they don’t have to ground airplanes, disrupt the subway system, endanger lives, or imperil the most famous bike race in the world if we starting prioritizing heat resiliency.

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