The UK braced for a record-breaking heatwave Tuesday as hundreds of schools closed early for the next two days and train companies slashed services.
The UK’s meteorological office has issued an extremely rare red heat warning — only issued once before — for Wednesday and Thursday, as temperatures could soar to 40C, unprecedented for the time of the year.
The red “extreme heat” warning extends to parts of central and south England, including London and Birmingham, the UK’s two biggest cities.
The Met Office also forecast that the June temperature record — 35.6C, set in 1976 — could be broken on Tuesday, with the mercury expected to rise to 37C in southern England.
“To see temperatures like this in the UK in June is sobering,” said Met Office chief scientist Stephen Belcher.
“Human-induced climate change has made events like this more likely and more intense,” he added, echoing warnings issued by scientists around the world.
Climate experts have also repeatedly told the government that the UK is not prepared for warmer summers.
At least 300 schools were planning to be closed partially or fully on Tuesday and later in the week, according to a BBC count.
“Pretty much every school up and down the UK will be having to make some form of adaptation this week in light of the extreme heat,” James Bowen, assistant general secretary at the National Association of Head Teachers, told AFP.
He said there needed to be “a sensible conversation about air conditioning”.
“We have an awful lot of very old buildings,” Bowen said, adding they were “not really fit for purpose and are certainly not ready to withstand this kind of heat”.
In one northwest London primary school, which was closing early, temperatures on Tuesday rose above 30 degrees.
The school told parents it remained “concerned about the welfare of both pupils and staff, particularly during the afternoon when temperatures are forecast to be at their highest”.
Network Rail, which manages most of the UK’s railway, told passengers to “only travel if absolutely necessary” on those days, while the railway company connecting the northeast to London issued a “do not travel” advisory.
The Eurostar cancelled six trains between London and Paris this week due to the “adverse weather”.
– Dead oak painted red –
In London’s famous Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, an oak tree which died due to drought and heat in 2022 has been painted red to “draw attention to the climate crisis”.
“This tree died in 2022 in a very hot and dry summer, a bit like the one that we’re starting to experience this year,” Sinead Marron from Kew Gardens told AFP, referring to the July 2022 heatwave in which some 400 trees in the gardens died.
Bracing for the week ahead, the Kew team was “monitoring the health of the trees through this period, irrigating where we can. But obviously there’s only so much that we can do,” Marron said.
She added the team was looking into “the different kinds of trees that we could plant in the future that will be more resilient to the kinds of summers that we might experience.”
Last month, Kew Gardens, which was founded in 1759, recorded the hottest May temperatures on record in the UK.
The Met Office warned high overnight temperatures could see “tropical nights” across parts of England and Wales when the temperature does not fall under 20C.
“We’re expecting severe and significant impacts from this heatwave, with health impacts likely for many, even beyond those who are normally more vulnerable to the heat,” said Met Office deputy chief forecaster Mark Sidaway.