Millions of people in Britain stayed home or sought shade on Monday during the country’s first extreme heat warning as the hot, dry weather that has burned continental Europe over the past week moved north, disrupting the travel, health care and schools.
The red heat alert covers much of England and should last until Tuesday, when temperatures could reach 40 degrees Celsius for the first time, posing a risk of serious illness and even death among healthy people. , according to the Met Office, the British weather service. .
The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK is 38.7 ºC, a record set in 2019. The country is not at all prepared to withstand this heat: most homes, schools and small businesses in the UK do not. they have air conditioning.
London’s Kew Gardens reached 37.5 degrees Celsius at 3pm on Monday (midnight AEST) and Wales provisionally recorded its highest temperature, the Met Office said, a record 35, 3 degrees Celsius in Gogerddan, on the west coast.
A police officer gives water to a British soldier wearing a traditional bear-skin hat, on guard in front of Buckingham Palace during London’s extreme heat wave. (AP) A couple sunbathing on Blyth Beach, Northumberland, on the north east coast of England. (AP)
At least four people were reported to have drowned across the UK in rivers, lakes and reservoirs while trying to cool off.
While Monday may bring record highs in the south-east of England, temperatures are expected to rise further as warm air moves north on Tuesday, said Penelope Endersby, director general of the Met Office. The extreme heat warning extends from London in the south to Manchester and Leeds in the north.
“So it’s tomorrow when we’re really seeing the highest probability of 40 degrees and temperatures above that,” Endersby told the BBC.
“Forty-one isn’t off the charts. We even have about 43 on the model, but hopefully it’s not that high.”
A man runs past an ice cream sign on the south bank of the River Thames in London, (AP) A woman uses an umbrella to protect herself from the sun in arid Greenwich Park, south-east London. (AP)
The hot weather has gripped southern Europe since last week, causing forest fires in Spain, Portugal and France. Nearly 600 heat-related deaths have been reported in Spain and Portugal, where temperatures reached 47ºC last week.
Climate experts warn that global warming has increased the frequency of extreme weather events, with studies showing that temperatures in the UK reach 40ºC are now 10 times higher than in the pre-industrial era. Drought and heat waves linked to climate change have also made forest fires more difficult to fight.
Officials in the Gironde region of southern France have announced plans to evacuate 3,500 more people from the cities threatened by the flames. More than 1,500 firefighters and water bombers are trying to put out the flames in the region’s dry pine forests.
Swimmers take to the sea at Fistral Beach in Newquay, Cornwall, England. (Getty) Swimmers enjoy an early morning swim in the cool water of Jesus Green lido as temperatures begin to rise in Cambridge, England. (Getty)
In Britain, train operators asked customers not to travel unless absolutely necessary, saying the heat could warp the rails and disrupt power supplies, causing severe delays.
Some routes operated at reduced speed or closed completely from mid-afternoon, when temperatures were expected to peak.
Some medical appointments were canceled to relieve tensions in the health service. Some schools closed and others installed children’s pools and water spray to help children cool off.
A woman holds an umbrella to protect herself from the sun as she walks along the south bank of the River Thames in London. (AP)
Most British schools have not yet closed for the summer.
The extreme heat even led Parliament to loosen its strict dress code. The Speaker of the House of Commons said male lawmakers could do without jackets and ties during the week.
High temperatures are even more shocking, as Britain usually has very moderate summer temperatures. Across the UK, average July temperatures range from daily highs of 21 ° C to lows of 12 ° C.
But Monday night’s fall will bring little relief from the heat, with the meteorological office forecasting temperatures of 29 ºC at midnight in London. Monday night will be “very oppressive” and it will be difficult to sleep, chief meteorologist Paul Davies said.
A polar bear at Doncaster’s Yorkshire Wildlife Park stays cool on a lake. (AP)
“Tomorrow is the day when we are really concerned about a good chance now of reaching 40 or 41 ºC, and with it all the health conditions that come with these higher temperatures,” he said.