In the UK, recorded the highest air temperature in the history of observations. It is reported by The Guardian.
At 12:50 London time at Heathrow Airport, the temperature reached 40.2°C. At the same time, forecasters warn that the temperature during the day may continue to rise. In parts of southern and central England it can rise to 41°C.
Transport Minister Grant Shepps said the UK's transport infrastructure was not built to withstand such high temperatures and would take many years to replace.
Due to abnormal heat, there are interruptions on the railway. Trains run at low speeds because the rails can buckle due to the heat. London's King's Cross, one of the country's busiest rail hubs, has been emptied. Several rail lines and highways were closed. On the roads, the number of car breakdowns due to heat increased by 10%.
On July 18, Luton airport, 48 km from London, closed the runway for several hours due to the fact that it began to melt. The BBC Air Base in Oxfordshire was also closed.
Many institutions, including hospitals, faced the problem of lack of air conditioning. For this reason, the Supreme Court was forced to move the hearings to an online format. Dozens of schools have closed, some educational institutions have decided to reduce the number of classes (summer holidays in schools in England begin in the last week of July).
At least six people across the country are reported to have drowned in rivers, lakes and reservoirs trying to cool off.
The last absolute temperature record in the UK was in 2019. Then in the Botanical Gardens of the University of Cambridge, the thermometer rose to 38.7 ° C.
The temperate UK was the latest country to be hit by the unusually hot and dry weather that hit Europe last week. The heatwave has already led to hundreds of deaths across the continent and sparked wildfires in Spain, Portugal and France. Scientists attribute abnormally high temperatures in Europe to global warming.