Village News

Christmas Lights

210721 | Road surface melts onto woman's tyres in record heatwave leaving mechanics gobsmacked

Road surface melts onto woman's tyres in record heatwave leaving mechanics gobsmacked

Louise Hanley from Hayle, Cornwall compared her short trip to "driving through water" after the Met Office expressed particular concern for public safety in parts of southwest England

The heatwave caused tarmac to melt onto one driver's wheels

The heatwave caused tarmac to melt onto one driver's wheels (Image: Louise Hanley / SWNS.COM)

A woman has shared shocking images of her car's tyres after the heatwave caused parts of the road's surface to melt onto them.

Louise Hanley, of Hayle, Cornwall, was driving to check on her horse last Monday as temperatures in the UK continued to soar.

The Met Office issued its first "extreme heat warning" with the southwest and South Wales being singled out as areas of concern.

Louise described driving on the roads during the heatwave as like "driving through water" shortly before she noticed "large chunks" of Tarmac had come away where previous drivers had been on the road.

Louise said travelling on the melted road was like "driving through water"

Louise said travelling on the melted road was like "driving through water" (Image: Louise Hanley / SWNS.COM)

Louise told CornwallLive: "It's a stretch of road I travel twice a day, and its safe to say nothing like this has ever happened before.

"I didn't think much else of it until the tractor pulled over and I saw huge clumps of Tarmac stuck to his tyres. I moved past slowly but realised something was quite wrong almost straight away as my steering was shaking quite drastically if I went anything over 30mph."

Louise said: "Both passenger-side tyres were completely covered in melted Tarmac"

Louise said: "Both passenger-side tyres were completely covered in melted Tarmac" (Image: Louise Hanley / SWNS.COM)

After making it to the yard where she keeps her horse Louise was surprised to find she had not punctured her tyre as suspected but parts of the tarmac had actually melted onto the tyres.

"Both passenger-side tyres were completely covered in melted Tarmac," she said. "I phoned my garage straight away and asked what to do.

"They had no idea what I was describing over the phone, and probably thought I was over-exaggerating, so asked me to pop over so they could have a look."

When Louise arrived at the garage even the mechanics were "gobsmacked" by the novel situation.

"About five of the guys working there came out to have a look and eventually we decided that we might be able to scrape most of it off whilst it was still hot."

Cornwall is not the only affected area as reports of roads melting "like chocolate" have surfaced in other areas of the country.

Councils in Gloucestershire and Somerset have scrambled to fix roads melting in the scorching temperatures.

 

 

 

The heatwave caused tarmac to melt onto one driver's wheels
Louise said travelling on the melted road was like "driving through water"
Louise said: "Both passenger-side tyres were completely covered in melted Tarmac"

Book page

TitleCreated
240325 | Open letter to all party candidates | sign to help Cornwall Wildlife Trust make difference for Nature at election 19 hours 54 min agoBook page
240310 | Detailed plans for affordable-led housing in Connor Downs 10th March 2 weeks 3 days agoBook page
240310 | Waste collections changes Helston, Penzance, Hayle | second phase:food waste, recycling, rubbish - commences July 2 weeks 3 days agoBook page
240218 | Collapsed North Quay development in Hayle described as a 'sea of despair' 5 weeks 14 hours agoBook page
240214 | Hayle North Quay development collapse sees eight companies go bust Work has ground to a halt on the blocks of flats 5 weeks 3 days agoBook page
240220 | Poling works | Grist Lane and Marsh Lane, Angarrack | expected 20 Feb 2024 0830-1630, for one day 7 weeks 1 day agoBook page
231130 | Are you ready for weekly food waste recycling? | Food Waste, Recycling and Rubbish Collection Changes 16 weeks 1 hour agoBook page
230821 | People of Cornwall town 'thrown under bus' over housing plan | direct result of councillors handled Hayle masterplan 31 weeks 1 day agoBook page
230817 | When will new rubbish collection changes start, Cornwall 31 weeks 6 days agoBook page
230809 | Holiday park in Cornwall for emergency housing still empty | Sandbank site purchased Cornwall Council in Jan 2022 32 weeks 5 days agoBook page
230811 | Decision on huge solar farm at Carnhell Green: refused 32 weeks 5 days agoBook page
230809 | Nearest NHS dental practice to Cornwall taking new patients 32 weeks 5 days agoBook page