A woman in New York City shared a now-viral TikTok video showing smoke and small flames that she said started on above-ground subway tracks in Brooklyn due to the extreme temperature.

Ileana Justine posted the video to her TikTok account @ileana.justine on Thursday where it has currently been viewed more than 200,000 times.

"It is excruciatingly hot in NYC right now," read the caption of her video.

States across the country are grappling with high temperatures this week that prompted officials to issue warnings for residents.

The National Weather Prediction Center tweeted Friday that a "searing heat wave" is expected to hit "much of the Heartland, Mid-South and the East Coast this weekend."

Searing heat wave to engulf much of the Heartland, Mid-South, and East Coast this weekend https://t.co/A3RX3bOdWJ

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), a heat wave is a period of time with "abnormally hot weather" that typically lasts more than two days.

The agency reported that heat can be taxing on the body and also on infrastructure.

"High heat can deteriorate and buckle pavement or buckle railway tracks, and exceed certain types of aircraft operational limits," it said.

In Justine's video, she said that she noticed the fire while waiting for her train.

"It is so hot in New York City right now that when I was waiting for the subway today, the tracks literally caught on fire," she said as a clip showing small flames on the train track was displayed on the screen. "This wasn't just from a lit cigarette or something, this was happening all over the tracks."

A second clip showed ribbons of smoke swirling from the tracks.

"Of course, this is New York, so we just told the attendant and then got on the train like normal," Justine added.

She told Newsweek in an email on Friday that she has seen fires on the tracks as garbage and cigarettes or garbage catch fire, but never saw the tracks spontaneously catch fire from the heat.

Justine said she noticed smoke was coming from a number of different places on the tracks.

"I saw the MTA station attendant on the other side of the platform talking to someone on the phone, letting them know what was going on," she explained. "A few people around me were talking about the smoke, and then we noticed the fire."

Knowing that a station attendant was already handling the matter, she said she wasn't too concerned about the fire, which was small and did not appear to spread.

Like many other New Yorkers, Justine is finding ways to beat the heat.

"Luckily, we have air conditioning at home, so we've been able to stay cool inside," she said. "I have a mini electric fan in my purse that I bring with me every time I go outside, though!"

Viewers weighed in with their thoughts and own experiences with the sweltering weather.

"Look, it is NY, we've seen it all & not worth being late," a viewer wrote.

"The grass caught fire at my husband's work today," another shared. "We haven't had enough rain lately and it's HOT!"

"It's literally like a sauna," one viewer wrote.

"You couldn't pay me to be down in a subway platform right now," a comment read. "That's a whole a** oven."

Another TikTok user said the heatwave caused a power outage on their entire block.

"There was no sleeping after that," they wrote.

The United States is not the only country battling the intense heat.

Videos claiming to show wildfires that took place in several western European countries due to the heatwave have recently circulated on Twitter. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom Royal Air Force canceled flights on several bases on Monday due to the heatwave. The temperatures reached such extremes that runways were melted.

Update 7/22/22, 3:02 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with comment from Ileana Justine.

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