On a typical weekday, the big Newark-on-Trent market would be full of customers. But on Tuesday, when temperatures in the city reached 40ºC, only a handful of people were on the street, with shops and pubs saying businesses had dropped markedly.
Newark, near Coningsby, Lincolnshire, the hottest spot in the UK on Tuesday, was one of several deserted towns as shoppers stayed home to avoid the heat.
At the market is a Greggs branch, where staff said it was “much quieter” than usual, with staff in charge of training to fill their idle hours without any custom. By mid-afternoon they had sold very few rolls of sausage, but many cold drinks.
Next door are The Works bins, which only two paying customers had seen in the last few hours.
“They come for air conditioning and then they go again,” said supervisor Sue Poole, 53. “I’m catching up with the paperwork I wouldn’t normally be able to do.”
The kitchen at The Barge pub closed the day for the first time and only served sandwiches. It just wasn’t long before anyone was in front of a pizza oven or working in a fryer, said Samantha Sutton, the 55-year-old cook.