The first record was set shortly before midday on Tuesday when temperatures in southern England topped 39C. An hour later the thermometer hit 40.2C at London’s Heathrow Airport and by evening more than 30 communities had hit new highs of all ages. Britain has never seen temperatures of 40C and this heatwave – stretching from London to Wales and Scotland – was far more widespread than any previous heat wave. So far the hottest day on record in the UK was 25 July 2019, when the temperature reached 38.7C in Cambridge. On Tuesday, the thermometer reached 40+ in half a dozen cities and towns across England and reached 34.8C in Northern Scotland. All this after a memorable Monday that saw records fall in Wales and elsewhere. Unlike most North American cities, Britain is not well prepared for extreme heat. Air conditioning is virtually non-existent in homes, and everything from railway lines to highways have been built with the country’s mild climate in mind. Britain was poised to hit 104 Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) for the first time on Tuesday after recording its hottest night on record, forcing train services to stop, some schools to close and zoos to feed animals large lollipops. Reuters Scorching heat this week closed schools, disrupted train services and closed a section of a major highway after the road buckled, causing ripples to appear along the surface. “No, the A14 is not turning into a skatepark,” Cambridgeshire Police said on Facebook. “Unfortunately the pavement doesn’t do well in this heat.” Network Rail canceled hundreds of trains for a second day on Tuesday and closed most train services from King’s Cross, St. Pancras and Blackfriars of London. Rail lines can buckle or buckle in extreme heat and Network Rail said the temperature along one line reached 62C on Monday. The hot air and parched land also sparked dozens of fires in many cities. In London, more than 250 firefighters tried to contain a series of grass fires in parks, woodlands and open fields. Some of the fires destroyed at least two houses in Wennington, a village east of London, as residents tried to evacuate. “I think it’s fair to say that the UK has never seen fires like this before,” said Thomas Smith, assistant professor of environmental geography at the London School of Economics. Most Britons heeded government warnings not to travel and stayed home. Some tried to find relief by heading to the beach. But even on shore, the punishing sun offered little respite. “I’ve never known anything like this,” Tracy Wojtowych-Mills said as she stood in a barbecue car park in Hunstanton, a seaside town north-east of London. “It’s only going to get hotter.” Ms Wojtowych-Mills spent Tuesday at Hunstanton Beach with her partner, daughter and nine-month-old grandson. “I think that’s going to happen more often,” he said. “I think something has changed.” Down on the beach, Lisa Ketteringham enjoyed a light breeze off the North Sea, which helped offset the blazing sun, at least a little. “I love it,” she said with a smile – although she quickly added that she was coming to the beach because her home in nearby Wisbech was unbearable. “There was just no breeze,” he said. Even the fans he had bought didn’t help at all. “They were just blowing hot air everywhere, so I turned them off.”
Fire engines burn during a fire at Mont d’Arrees, outside Brasparts, western France. LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images 1 of 24 A firefighter sprays water on Mount Penteli, about 25 kilometers northeast of Athens. THANASSIS STAVRAKIS/The Associated Press 2 of 24 A firefighter works to extinguish a forest fire during a heatwave near Thiendorf, north of Dresden, Germany.MATTHIAS RIETSCHEL/Reuters 3 out of 24 A mother protects her baby from the sun with an umbrella on Westminster Bridge in London. Frank Augstein/The Associated Press 4 out of 24 Empty sunbeds are pictured on dry grass in Hyde Park in west London.NIKLAS HALLE’N/AFP/Getty Images 5 out of 24 Firefighters attend a fire during a heatwave near Zennor, Cornwall, Britain.TOM NICHOLSON/Reuters 6 out of 24 A man swims in the River Derwent in the grounds of Chatsworth House during the heatwave, Derbyshire, Britain.CARL RECINE/Reuters 7 out of 24 People cool off in the River Derwent in the grounds of Chatsworth House during the heat wave, Derbyshire, Britain.CARL RECINE/Reuters 8 out of 24 People cool off during the hot weather on Brighton beach in Britain. PETER CZIBORRA/Reuters 9 out of 24 Tourists sit in the shade of umbrellas, under jets of water vapor, at an open-air restaurant on a street in central Rome. ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images 10 out of 24 A plane tackles a fire during the second heat wave of the year in the Tabara region of Spain.ISABEL INFANTES/Reuters 11 of 24 A girl refills her water bottle from the “Fontana della Barcaccia” fountain during a severe heat wave sweeping Europe, in Piazza di Spagna in central Rome.ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images 12 out of 24 A zookeeper cools down elephants during a hot day at Berlin Zoo, Germany. FABRIZIO BENSCH/Reuters 13 of 24 Signs banning barbecues are seen in Dovedale during the heatwave, Derbyshire, Britain.CARL RECINE/Reuters 14 of 24 Women protect themselves from the sun with umbrellas during a heatwave in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany. FABRIZIO BENSCH/Reuters 15 of 24 A burning tree is seen in the La Teste-de-Buch forest destroyed by a large fire near Dune du Pilat as fires continue to spread in the Gironde region of southwestern France. PASCAL ROSSIGNOL/Reuters 16 of 24 A boy refreshes himself in a fountain during the heat wave as a heat wave hits Europe, in Brussels, Belgium.YVES HERMAN/Reuters 17 of 24 People row on the river Spree and pass the Badeschiff, bathing ship, swimming pool in Berlin, Germany. Markus Schreiber/The Associated Press 18 of 24 People sit on the sunny grass in Greenwich Park with the Naval Museum and Canary Wharf financial district in the background in London. Tony Hicks/The Associated Press 19 of 24 A sign warning train passengers about the high temperatures and their impact on rail traffic is pictured at Euston railway station in central London.NIKLAS HALLE’N/AFP/Getty Images 20 out of 24 A swimmer in the water at Canary Wharf docks in east London.Victoria Jones/The Associated Press 21 of 24 Rachel De Smedt, 89, Jeanne De Coninck, 90, Marie-Louise Buggenhout, 90, Mariette Van Dam, 90, Lisette Donies, 88 and Irma Van Buggenhout, 93, residents at Ter Biest nursing home renew their feet in a pool as a heat wave hits Europe, in Grimbergen, Belgium.YVES HERMAN/Reuters 22 of 24 A field of sunflowers near Selm, western Germany, during a heatwave.INA FASSBENDER/AFP/Getty Images 23 of 24 A pharmacy displays the temperature, 45 degrees Celsius in Lille, northern France, as Europe experiences an unusually extreme heat wave. Michel Spingler/The Associated Press 24 of 24
Her boyfriend Stuart Baxter lives near Cambridge and drives a minibus that takes disabled children to school. The minibus has air conditioning, he said, but it’s not enough, and driving the kids around has been nearly impossible this week. Fortunately, school was closed on Tuesday. “I think it’s climate change,” Mr Baxter said as he looked out to sea. “I think we have to adapt to it and prepare for it.” 1 of 24 2 of 24 3 out of 24 4 out of 24 5 out of 24 6 out of 24 7 out of 24 8 out of 24 9 out of 24 10 out of 24 11 of 24 12 out of 24 13 of 24 14 of 24 15 of 24 16 of 24 17 of 24 18 of 24 19 of 24 20 out of 24 21 of 24 22 of 24 23 of 24 24 of 24 That was the message climate scientists tried to drive home on Tuesday. The heat wave should be a wake-up call, they said, about climate change and the need to modify buildings and cities to cope with extreme temperatures. “Even in our current climate, a rare record above 40C is considered extremely rare, but as our climate warms, we expect to see these kinds of exceedances every two years,” said Dann Mitchell, professor of climate science at the University of Bristol. “In the short term, we need to learn lessons from what happened to our infrastructure and our buildings and urgently update our emergency plans and responses,” said Nigel Arnell, professor of climate system science at the University of Reading. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is stepping down in September, urged those seeking to replace him as leader of the Conservative party to stick to the government’s commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. “Who can doubt that we were right to be first big economy to go to net zero? It may sometimes be unfashionable to say that, but it’s the right thing to do,” he said on Tuesday. The three remaining leadership contenders – former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and International Trade Secretary Penny Mordaunt – have pledged to stick to the 2050 target, but there is growing pressure on the party to amend the pledge, given the soaring cost of living. In response, Ms Truss and Ms Mordant said they would at least temporarily scrap green levies on energy bills to provide relief to consumers. Our Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.
