IN the United Kingdom, multiple wildfires broke out in Tuesday’s record-breaking heat wave, putting mounting pressure on fire service, and traffic disruption went on with repairs underway Wednesday.

The U.K. baked in its hottest day ever Tuesday as the village of Coningsby in the East Midlands of England saw air temperature reach 40.3 degrees Celsius, a fresh record for the country according to the national weather service.

While the previous record was 38.7 degrees Celsius at Cambridge Botanic Garden in July 2019, and at least 34 sites exceeded it Tuesday.

Temperature in the market town of Kelso in the Scottish Borders area has also provisionally hit a new high for Scotland at 35.1 degrees Celsius, topping the previous record of 32.9 degrees in August 2003.

Amid the sweltering heat, wildfires broke out in multiple areas. London Fire Brigade declared a major incident Tuesday.

It “was the Brigade’s busiest day since World War II,” as firefighters dealt with more than 1,146 incidents across London, and Brigade Control took 2,670 calls, the service said.

Scorching weather disrupted traffic Tuesday as several rail services had to be closed, and a speed limit imposed.

“Journeys will take much longer than usual while we continue repairs” caused by the severe heatwave, said Network Rail, owner and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in the U.K., on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, a line side fire broke out after 25,000-volt overhead electric cables that power trains came down in Harrow, Greater London. All services to and from London Euston, a central London railway terminus, were suspended.

(Xinhua)