Stunned shoppers looked on this afternoon as part of the pavement suddenly began to give way and rise, forming a ridge.

It is thought the buckling was caused by the intense afternoon heat, with Edinburgh experiencing temperatures of 26C on what is the hottest day of the year so far. Locals reported hearing a loud “popping noise”.

Susan Morrison, 59, comedienne and Evening News columnist was walking through the Newkirkgate at around 3pm when the ground started to break in front of her.

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She said: “It literally buckled up right in front of us, just as we came round the corner it started to rise.

“A ridge appeared right where Project 42 is.

“The paving stones have actually come up. There’s a huge depression outside Lidl. Just amazing.”

A bemused crowd gathered round the unusual scene and began taking photos.

The pavement at the Newkirkgate shopping centre has buckled due to the heat. Picture: @GJMunro26

One worker at the Specsavers branch on the street said: “I was outside talking to a customer and there was just this bang, then the pavement, it just started moving, it was totally weird.”

Police arrived to help cordon off the ares for pedestrians before engineers could get out to assess the damage, however a mystery remains over the cause of the noise.

Workers from Scottish Water visited the site on Monday evening, but found no fault with the water main or any pipes, while there was also no evidence of any disturbance underneath the slabs.

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