Britain is bracing for an unprecedented heat wave expected to send temperatures soaring above 40C this week and wreak havoc on the railways lines, schools and other public services. And scientists are warning that this kind of heat wave could become the norm in the UK due to climate change. The Met Office, or Met, has issued the first red warning for extreme heat. Temperatures across much of central England, an area stretching from London to Manchester and York, could reach 43C on Tuesday. “We were hoping we wouldn’t get to this situation, but for the first time we’re forecasting over 40C in the UK,” said Dr Nikos Christidis, climate scientist at the Met. The hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK was 38.7 on July 25, 2019, in Cambridge. What are the health risks of extreme heat? Several schools were closed on Monday and train services across the country faced cancellations and delays after Network Rail warned that the heat could cause tracks to bend or buckle. Parts of the London Underground have also been affected and some hospitals have canceled operations because operating theaters were too hot. Britain is just the latest European country to experience high temperatures this summer. The intense heat has caused hundreds of deaths and fires in Portugal, Spain and France. In Luza, Portugal, the temperature exceeded 46 last week, while in south-west France thousands of people had to be evacuated from their homes due to raging forest fires. Heat warnings have been issued across France and Spain as temperatures stayed in the 40s for days. “Every heat wave we experience today has become hotter and more frequent because of human-induced climate change,” said Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London. “We know this now after decades and centuries of climate research.” Dr. Otto told a press conference on Monday that recent heat waves in Canada, the United States, India and Europe have been much more intense than in the past. “We know how greenhouse gas molecules behave. We know there is more in the atmosphere. The atmosphere is warming and that means we expect to see more frequent heat waves, hotter heat waves,” he said.
People sit covering their heads from the sun after a reduced version of the changing of the guard ceremony outside Buckingham Palace during warm weather in London. Matt Dunham/The Associated Press 1 of 17 A police officer gives water to a British soldier wearing a traditional bearskin hat on guard duty outside Buckingham Palace during warm weather in London. Matt Dunham/The Associated Press 2 of 17 A person walks on a dry bank of a tributary at Dowry Reservoir near Oldham, Britain, as the UK heat wave continues. Danny Lawson/The Associated Press 3 out of 17 People swim in the sea as a wave crashes behind them during warm weather at Perranporth Beach, Cornwall, Britain.TOM NICHOLSON/Reuters 4 out of 17 A man protects himself from the sun under an umbrella on the sand dunes during hot weather at Perranporth Beach, Cornwall, Britain.TOM NICHOLSON/Reuters 5 out of 17 People swim in the tidal pool during warm weather at Perranporth Beach, Cornwall, Britain.TOM NICHOLSON/Reuters 6 out of 17 An aerial view shows people swimming outside in the sun at Hathersage Pool, west of Sheffield in northern England. OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images 7 out of 17 Tourists walk near the London Eye during a heatwave in London, Britain.LISI NIESNER/Reuters 8 out of 17 People rest in a shady spot during a heatwave as they attend the Farnborough Air Show in Farnborough, England. Frank Augstein/The Associated Press 9 out of 17 A couple enjoy the sun on Blyth Beach, Northumberland, on the north east coast of England. Owen Humphreys/The Associated Press 10 out of 17 A view of a bridge, which is usually submerged, over the dried-up bed of Llwyn-on Reservoir during a heatwave in Wales, Britain.CARL RECINE/Reuters 11 of 17 People cool off in the fountains next to the Scoop during a heatwave in London, Britain.MAJA SMIEJKOWSKA/Reuters 12 of 17 A man uses a newspaper as a fan while traveling on the Bakerloo line in central London during the heat wave. Yui Mok/The Associated Press 13 of 17 An employee stands by a gate at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster, which is temporarily closed due to heatwave as record temperatures hit the UK. Danny Lawson/The Associated Press 14 of 17 A polar bear at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster rolls on the grass as the park is temporarily closed due to heatwave as record temperatures hit the UK. Danny Lawson/The Associated Press 15 of 17 Police horse Zorro drinks from a bucket to cool off during the heat, in Whitehall in London, Britain. JOHN SIMBLEY/Reuters 16 of 17 Commuters walk under a message board warning people of disruption due to extreme heat at Victoria Station in London.NIKLAS HALLE’N/AFP/Getty Images 17 of 17
Studies have shown that “the likelihood of exceptionally hot days in the UK has increased and will continue to increase over the course of the century,” said Dr. Christidis. He added that “the chances of seeing 40C days in the UK could be up to 10 times more likely in the current climate than in a natural climate unaffected by human influence”. 1 of 17 2 of 17 3 out of 17 4 out of 17 5 out of 17 6 out of 17 7 out of 17 8 out of 17 9 out of 17 10 out of 17 11 of 17 12 of 17 13 of 17 14 of 17 15 of 17 16 of 17 17 of 17 Hannah Cloke, a natural hazards researcher at the University of Reading, said that while temperatures across the UK were expected to cool later this week, the heat was likely to return. “I think there is a strong risk of further heatwaves around the world for the rest of the summer,” he said. “For Europe and the UK this is quite worrying.” She and other scientists said the public doesn’t appreciate how deadly warming can be. “When we talk about heat waves they are really silent killers. I think the scale of the mortality is not very well appreciated,” he said. “Severe heatwaves will get worse, so we can no longer tolerate poor design in our buildings and cities. We have to think about shade, trees, public cooling areas.” Eunice Lo, a climatologist at the University of Bristol, told the briefing that over the past 10 years heatwaves have been responsible for 2,000 extra deaths each year. “We definitely need to be aware of extreme heat,” he said. But getting the public to equate heat waves with climate change is a challenge, said Mike Tipton, professor of human and applied physiology at the University of Portsmouth. Hot weather is often seen as just a fact of life in the summer, and people often point to previous heat waves, he said. “Part of the problem is that climate change is still seen as a problem for the future. The problem is that it’s not for the future, it’s for the here and now.” The British government is scrambling to respond to the weather warning. This is partly because the ruling Conservative Party is locked in a race to find a successor to Boris Johnson, who resigned as leader. Mr Johnson remains prime minister until a successor is chosen on September 5 and an interim cabinet is named. The 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.
