A tree that I walk past on my daily commute has acquired numerous deep cracks in its Trunk and primary branches, in the last few days, over the course of an extreme (for UK) heatwave and drought.
Is this something it can recover from, or is it basically dead at this point?
(Images are thumbnails. Click for full-size)
The cracks in and of themselves might be survivable, but presumably it's cracking due to being exceedingly dry (unless it got lighting struck, which they don't really look like - no blown-off bark) and that may well make it exceedingly dead.
Can't quite tell what the foliage looks like, but if it's wilted and/or brown, (which I think the 3rd picture implies, but it's out of focus foliage-wise) the tree's fate is probably to expire soon. However, trees do have reserves and may manage to come back from a terrible year (somewhat scarred from it) if the next one is kinder to them.
It's not dead but it is a hazard. Next big wind storm or ice storm and those branches will break further including detaching.
If the owner of the tree is aware of the damage and does nothing in some locales they would be responsible for any damage. (Consult your local ordinances!)
