‘Decades’ to fix buckling rail lines and melting tarmac for climate crisis, cabinet minister warns

Grant Shapps says rail network only built to withstand 35C – because it was ‘never imagined’ that UK would face higher temperatures

It will take “decades” to fix the UK’s crumbling infrastructure for the climate emergency, a cabinet minister has warned, as the country braces for its hottest day ever.

The problems of rail lines buckling, overhead lines sagging and road tarmac melting will be repeated for many, many years to come, Grant Shapps said in a gloomy message to the public.

The transport secretary agreed the government received advance warning of the current heatwave – but argued it takes “decades to build and replace” the infrastructure affected.

“A lot of our infrastructure is just not built for these types of temperatures,” Mr Shapps said, adding: “And we’re going to see this a lot more regularly.

“We know that we’ve seen many of the hottest days ever recorded have come in the last 10 to 15 years. So we’re going to see this more – and it’s a huge infrastructure to replace.”

Asked, on Sky News, if “we are going to have this sort of problem for decades to come”, Mr Shapps replied: “We are. And ditto with things like tarmac on the roads.

“There’s a long process of replacing and upgrading it to withstand temperatures, either very hot or sometimes much colder than we used to – and these are the impacts of global warming.”

The rail network is only able to with stand temperatures of 35C – lower than Spain (45C) and Saudi Arabia (50C) – because heat above 40C “seemed impossible”.

“It has never been imagined that the UK would need it. Clearly we will do in the future,” Mr Shapps said.

The admission comes after a Cabinet Office minister declined to give evidence on adapting infrastructure for climate change – in what Labour branded the latest evidence of Boris Johnson’s “zombie government”.

Michael Ellis, who attends cabinet, cancelled his appearance before the Joint Committee on National Security Strategy with only a week’s notice.

The committee hit back by announcing there appeared to be no minister responsible for the strategy for climate resilience, which suggested a “major hole at the centre of government”.

Margaret Beckett, the senior Labour MP, said: “We’re rather shocked that the Cabinet Office decided they would not send a minister to give evidence on this topic.”

It suggested “there is not much happening in the Cabinet Office to address this very real risk to national security, or at least that the minister is not involved in it”, she said.

Roger Hargreaves, head of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat at the Cabinet Office, who stepped in for Ellis, said the minister is not responsible for co-ordinating policy for critical national infrastructure.

But, when asked by the former cabinet secretary Lord Butler if Mr Ellis has overall responsibility for resilience strategy, Mr Hargreaves replied: “Yes.”