Britain boils as mercury rises to record 40 deg C

LONDON • Britain recorded its highest-ever temperature of 40 deg C yesterday as a heatwave gripping Europe intensified, scorching fields and damaging airport runways and train tracks.

The Met Office said the provisional record, which still needs to be confirmed, was recorded at 12.50pm (7.50pm Singapore time) at London's Heathrow Airport, surpassing the previous record of 38.7 deg C recorded in 2019.

Multiple fires broke out across London and the city's fire service declared a major incident, in the latest sign of how record-breaking heat is causing chaos across Britain.

Train routes were cancelled, normally busy city centres appeared quiet, and zoos struggled to keep their animals cool.

"For the first time ever, 40 deg C has provisionally been exceeded in the UK," the Met Office said. "Temperatures are still climbing in many places, so remember to stay weather aware."

The forecaster will need to validate the equipment used to record any record temperature before it becomes official.

Britain, which struggles to maintain key transport services in extreme heat or snow, has been put on a state of "national emergency" over the unprecedented temperatures.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it will be many years before Britain can fully upgrade its infrastructure to cope with higher temperatures, after at least two runways showed signs of damage and some train tracks buckled.

Commuter Jay Mistry said he had gone into his office to benefit from the air-conditioning and planned to work late. "You've just got to be sensible, just keep hydrated, just avoid the alcohol," he said.

Climate scientists said the once-unthinkable temperature in London is likely to become more common in the coming years. Climate and macroeconomic professor Sony Kapoor from the European University Institute said he had long thought that people underestimated the physical impacts of climate change in contemporary times. "But even I never thought we would see 40 deg C in London in 2022," he said.

Much of Europe has been baking for over a week in a heatwave that has sparked wildfires across tinder-dry countryside in Portugal, Spain and France.

Record-high temperatures were registered in 64 different areas around France on Monday as a heatwave peaked in the country, the national weather service confirmed yesterday. Most of the highs were recorded along the western Atlantic coast where temperatures have soared above 40 deg C and several forest fires are raging. The all-time high temperature in mainland France dates to 2019 when the southern village of Verargues, north-east of Montpellier, clocked 46 deg C.

In Britain, the heat brought widespread travel problems and requests from train operators for people to use the service only if essential. Network Rail tweeted a picture on Monday showing a rail with a kink near London.

London's Luton Airport suspended flights after a surface defect was found on the runway, and operations had to be diverted from the Royal Air Force's Brize Norton, with a media report suggesting the runway had partly melted.

Some rail services were cancelled.

The public was also warned not to swim in open water to cool off, with police reporting two teenagers had died after getting into trouble while swimming in a lake and a river.

At least one major zoo, located in Chester, said it would close, while Bristol Zoo said squirrel monkeys, kea parrots and red pandas were being fed frozen ice lollies filled with vegetables, leaves or mealworms.

In the United States and other countries more accustomed to it, such heat might scarcely register. Essential infrastructure in those climates, from schools to public transport to private homes, has been designed to deal with the heat, and people's bodies are more acclimatised to it.

But Britain is a nation known for its scudding clouds, frequent showers and temperate weather. Its houses, especially older ones, were built to retain warmth, and their residents are similarly outfitted. Britons, in fact, are famously unprepared for extreme weather - whether winter blizzards or summer downpours - and pavement-shimmering heat is no exception.

The current heatwave has sent the sales of electric fans, hoses, air-conditioner units and sprinklers soaring, retailers said.

Sainsbury's, Britain's No. 2 supermarket group which also owns the Argos general merchandise business, said sales of fans last week rose 1,876 per cent versus the week before, while sales of air-con units were up 2,420 per cent and sales of paddling pools were up 814 per cent. Supermarkets have also reported soaring sales of ice cream, drinks, barbecue charcoal and suncare products.

However, analysts said that on balance, the heatwave is generally bad news for physical retailers as it is too hot to shop, adding to pressure on a sector already struggling with a cost-of-living crisis.

NYTIMES, REUTERS, BLOOMBERG