Extreme temperatures melted a busy road in Stockport in the UK amid the heatwave 4.83/5 (6)

Broadstone Road was turned into sticky, black goo as the heat liquefied the asphalt.

An onlooker said that his feet sank into the soft road surface. He added that it sounded like the cars were "driving through water", Manchester Evening News reported.

"It sounded like it had just rained and the cars were driving through the puddles. It was that soft your feet got stuck in it if you walked across. The tarmac was all stuck in the treads of my tyres," he said.

According to the Road Surface Treatments Association, roads in the sun can get as hot as 50 degrees Celsius and at these temperatures, they begin to become soft. This is because the road surface absorbs heat and this builds up during the day.

Roads are gritted when temperatures soar to prevent them from melting.

Howard Robinson, chief executive of the Road Surface Treatments Association, was quoted as saying by Mirror, "Drivers may be bemused to see the gritters out in the summer when they are usually spreading grit and salt during the winter. However, this is effective standard practice for keeping a road surface safe during extreme prolonged hot temperatures. Asphalt is a bit like chocolate – it melts and softens when it’s hot and goes hard and brittle when it’s cold – it doesn’t maintain the same strength all year round."