People go out to watch the sunrise at Cullercoats Bay, North Tyneside. Britons are set to melt on the UK’s hottest day on record as temperatures are forecast to reach 40C. Photo date: Tuesday, July 19, 2022.
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LONDON – Britain recorded its hottest day ever on Tuesday, with temperatures peaking at 40.2 degrees Celsius (104.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in southern England, according to provisional data from the Met Office.
Figures from the UK’s weather service showed Heathrow, near London, reached its maximum on Tuesday, surpassing the record of 39.1C set earlier in the day. A previous high of 38.7C was recorded in 2019.
It comes as Britons face a second day of an extreme heatwave which is causing widespread disruption and increasing the risk of wildfires.
“If confirmed this will be the hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK. Temperatures are likely to rise further today,” the Met Office said on Twitter.
Temperatures are forecast to reach 42C in parts of England by Tuesday afternoon, according to the Met Office, which issued a red extreme heat warning. Health authorities urged people to take precautions, including staying indoors and drinking plenty of water.
The country is also on high fire alert, with southeast England at “very extreme risk”, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.
It comes as many parts of Europe and North Africa are also experiencing extreme temperatures, with fires raging in France, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Morocco.
Brits endure hottest night ever
Millions of Britons endured the nation’s hottest night on Monday, with temperatures remaining above 25C in places, surpassing the previous overnight record of 23.9C set in Brighton in 1990.
It followed a day of extreme heat on Monday, during which a maximum temperature of 38.1C was reached in Suffolk in the east of England – falling just short of the UK record.
The high temperatures have been particularly worrisome for a country with little infrastructure or amenities like air conditioning to cope with the hot weather.
The Met Office in the UK has said that extreme temperatures in the country have become 10 times more likely due to climate change.
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Emergency services were on high alert across the country after dealing with a rise in weather-related incidents, with several fatalities already reported.
A number of schools closed early on Monday, or did not open at all, despite government advice to stay open.
Meanwhile, water companies in the south of England reported an “extraordinary” increase in demand due to the weather, which they said could result in low pressure or even supply disruptions.
Infrastructure struggles under the heat
The soaring temperatures also led to travel chaos for commuters and holidaymakers as hundreds of services were suspended.
Runways at London Luton Airport and RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire were affected by the heat, causing aircraft to be diverted and flights cancelled.
Meanwhile, rail services were severely affected, with bent rails reported and overhead wire systems failing. In some areas, cancellations and speed limits of 20 miles per hour were put in place.
Britain’s Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, told the BBC that the country’s rail network could not cope with the extreme heat, adding that improvements to help services cope with extreme temperatures would take “many years”.
“19 Closed due to heat wave” reads a notice hanging in a closed shop. In the London region, the temperature can rise to 40 degrees.
Sebastian Gollnow | Photo Alliance | Getty Images
“We are building new specifications, creating airlines that can withstand higher temperatures. But with the best will in the world, this is infrastructure that has taken decades to build, with some of the railways ours going back 200 years,” he told the BBC. Tuesday.
It comes as heatwaves become more common and severe due to human-caused climate change. Indeed, the Met Office in the UK has said that extreme temperatures in the country have become 10 times more likely due to climate change.
Average global temperatures have risen by just over 1C from their pre-industrial levels and are expected to rise by 2.4C to 4C by the end of the century, depending on global efforts to reduce CO2 emissions.
Greg Dewerpe, founder and chief investment officer at venture capital firm A/O PropTech, told CNBC on Tuesday that $10 trillion a year needs to be invested in buildings and infrastructure between now and 2050 to help countries cope with well with the new climate realities.
“If you look at the built world in general, there’s about $10 trillion a year that needs to be invested in renewing technologies for housing, for offices, for all kinds of buildings around us, by 2050,” he said.
“Technologies that will enable us to move towards decarbonisation and resilience are key,” he added.
