• A 135-year-old Victorian bridge has been wrapped in silver foil to keep it cool during a heatwave.
  • The local council said it wants to keep Hammersmith Bridge at a "safe temperature."
  • The UK's Met Office has issued a "red warning for exceptional heat" for the first time ever.

A Victorian bridge in London was wrapped in foil to try and stop it cracking as the UK faces a heatwave this week that could see it break its all-time temperature records.

The 135-year-old Hammersmith Bridge was wrapped in silver insulation foil that "reflects the sun," the Hammersmith and Fulham Council said last week.

The council wants to keep the bridge open and working as temperatures of up to 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) are forecast in London on Tuesday; 104 degree Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) heat is forecast elsewhere in England. The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK was 101.66 degrees Fahrenheit (38.7 degrees Celsius) in 2019.

The UK's Met Office has issued a "red warning for exceptional heat" for the first time ever.

The foil is part of a "pioneering £420,000 temperature control system" designed to keep the bridge at a "safe temperature" the council said, adding that the bridge had to be closed completely in August 2020 after hot temperatures then caused tiny cracks in its cast-iron pedestals. The system also involves a cooling system that works overnight.

The bridge is now only open to pedestrians and cyclists after it was closed in that 2020 heatwave.

Hammersmith Bridge in April 2022, before it was covered in foil this month. Foto: Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs

The bridge has four pedestal chains that are anchored to the river bed. If any one of the chains reaches 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius), "safety engineers will shut the bridge," the council said.

The council said the Hammersmith Bridge is one of the world's oldest suspensions bridges, which makes it among the most expensive in the country to repair.

"The temperature control system allows us to track weather spikes and maintain a constant temperature," said Sebastian Springer, a project manager working on the bridge. "As we deal with the current extreme heat, we are also coming up with innovative solutions to keep the temperature within the threshold."

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