HEATWAVES are going to become hotter, longer and more frequent as climate change disrupts weather patterns around the world.

Soaring temperatures pose a serious threat the environment, but they also compromise many of the things we take for granted - such as travel.

The huge disruption seen in the parts of England which have borne the brunt of the current heatwave shows just how quickly our infrastructure can fail when the mercury climbs.

Scorching temperatures damaged overhead electric wires in a number of locations, forcing packed trains to a standstill and leaving passengers stranded in "sauna-like" carriages without air-conditioning.

READ MORE: Climate crisis raises risk of more intense heatwaves 

There were reports of commuters fainting, grass fires breaking out on embankments, and metal tracks expanding in ferocious sunlight - creating a risk of derailment unless speeds were substantially reduced.

Andy Thomas, a managing director Network Rail, said: “On very sunny days, rails in direct sunshine can be as much as 20°C above air temperature causing the steel to expand markedly and could, if not carefully monitored and action taken, buckle causing travel disruption.

“Our engineers and specialist extreme weather teams are monitoring track-side temperatures and vulnerable locations and will, if necessary, introduce temporary speed restrictions during the hottest part of the day to keep trains running, albeit more slowly than normal.”

Rail tracks in the UK have a "stress-free" temperature of 27C (80.6F) - effectively the threshold before the steel will become at risk of buckling.

It is important to remember that the metal rails will absorb heat in a similar way to a car roof, so they often become much hotter than the air temperature.

Around three-quarters of the railway is also laid on concrete sleepers, however, which can enable the rails to heat up to 59C (138.2F) without damage.

But the remaining quarter of track- largely concentrated in colder parts of the UK, including Scotland - is not built to withstand such abnormal highs.

READ MORE: Scotland's homes will fail to protect people against deadly heatwaves 

Besides introducing slower "heat speeds", Network Rail has begun installing mini weather-stations and track-side probes to monitor local conditions, painted parts of the rail white so they absorb less heat, and is has a extreme weather action teams (EWATs) ready to be deployed to ensure passenger safety and try to keep trains running during heatwaves.

Modern overhead railway lines have auto-tension systems with balance weights or springs that adjust to different temperatures, making them less vulnerable to peaks in temperature.

The wires most at risk are older-style, fixed tension cables, which are in the process of being replaced.

It is often noted that many of our European neighbours do not experience such disruption - but of course their railways have been designed for their weather.

Tracks are commonly adjusted between seasons to cope with extremes of both hot and cold. Their tracks are also mounted on slabs of concrete instead of sleepers to allow for track expansion and contraction - but these slabs cost four times as much to lay.

READ MORE: Passengers stranded on trains for hours as track points fail in heat 

Extreme heatwaves also pose a challenge for airports.

At high temperatures, tarmac becomes softer and prone to damage from landing aircraft. European airports have been spraying taxiways with water to keep them cool but, longer term, technical standards for runway and taxi surfacing may have to adapt as a result of more extreme weather.

In recent days, hundreds of flights between the UK and Europe have been cancelled because of thunderstorms caused by the collision of hot and cold air flows.

The risk from lightning and reduced visibility means air traffic controllers must limit the number of planes in the sky in order to keep more distance between aircraft, leading to flight delays or cancellations.

Pilots may also have to navigate around a weather system, causing longer journey times.

Technology could help to mitigate this though, by upgrading the UK's 50-year-old ground-based beacons system to satellite-based navigation. This would increase airspace capacity.

A spokesman for the Airport Operators Association said the industry must adapt to a "new normal".

He said: “Heatwaves can cause damage to ground infrastructure, such as runways and taxiways, and airports monitor this closely to ensure that this does not affect airport operations.

"Passengers will notice the biggest impact from thunderstorms and other weather-related events that come with heatwaves.

“Improving the resilience of our airspace is crucial for ensuring future extreme weather has as limited an impact as possible.

"That is why the AOA and UK airports are working closely with the UK Government to modernise the UK’s airspace, which will result in more resilience by improving airspace capacity, while at the same time enabling a better management of noise impacts for communities and reducing aviation’s climate-related emissions.”