Duck weed takes over at Olympic Park

Published: Thursday, 17 August 2017

BOATING in the capital has come to a standstill as the hot weather has produced a green 'sea' of duck weed.

The high temperatures have produced a carpet of duck weed on the waterways around the Olympic Park and along stretches of the Regent's Canal hampering the progress of boats, Keith Gudgin reports.

duckweed25c for a week

During recent days the temperature has reached 23c every day for a week causing the duck weed to flourish, leaving swathes of green.

The weed uses up the oxygen in the water during the hours of darkness that can suffocate fish, with the Environment Agency warning people to assume the water is toxic and telling them to keep pets and children away from the water and particularly avoid skin contact with the algae.

Particularly dangerous

Blue-green algae has also been seen, with this particularly dangerous as it is a risk to human and animal health as ingestion can lead to symptoms including convulsions and liver failure.

Teams are busy dragging the duck weed from the waterways around the Stratford stadium where the World Athletics Championships took place.