UK records its hottest June day, beating 1957 and 1976 highs; WHO warns of risk to lives
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "UK records its hottest June day, beating 1957 and 1976 highs; WHO warns of risk to lives")
The Met Office issued a rare red extreme heat warning for 9 am on Wednesday until 9 pm on Thursday Photograph: (AFP)
WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Europe’s heatwave was “putting lives at risk” and urged world leaders to invest more in resilient health systems and act faster on climate change. Heatwaves kill tens of thousands of people across Europe each year.
The United Kingdom on Wednesday broke the all-time temperature record for June’s hottest day, with the mercury hitting 35.8ºC at Wiggonholt in West Sussex, according to provisional data from the Met Office. The previous record for the month of June was 35.6ºC, set in Camden Square in London in 1957. It was reached again in Southampton almost 20 years later in 1976.
The record for the highest temperature ever in the UK stands at 40.3ºC, reached on 19 July 2022 at Coningsby in Lincolnshire.
The Met Office issued a rare red extreme heat warning for 9 am on Wednesday until 9 pm on Thursday, while further amber warnings are in place for Friday and Saturday.
Schools, hospitals, care homes and workplaces struggled to handle sweltering temperatures. Schools closed early or completely, hospitals cancelled appointments, and hosepipe use has been banned as a coping measure.
Stephen Belcher, the Met Office’s chief scientist, said, “Events like this bring home the implications of climate change, with very high temperatures and humidity bringing significant health implications from heat stress.”
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Heatwaves kill tens of thousands of people across Europe each year as the extreme weather has become hotter, longer and more common amid global warming.
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WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that Europe’s heatwave was “putting lives at risk” and urged world leaders to invest more in resilient health systems and act faster on climate change.
“The data are clear: temperatures across Europe are rising at roughly twice the global average rate, increasing the likelihood and severity of extreme heat in the future,” he said. “We cannot afford further delay.”
France, which recorded 40 drowning deaths as people sought to escape the heat, experienced its hottest night on record on Monday, followed by its hottest day on record on Tuesday, according to the country’s national weather service Météo-France.
In Spain, one in every eight weather stations recorded temperatures above 40ºC on Monday.
Temperatures are slightly cooler in Central Europe but are inching higher, with Germany likely to hit 40ºC at the weekend.
The vulnerable people were urged to take extra care over the next few days and people were requested to look out for older people around them.
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The old people were exhorted to stay safe in the shade, drink plenty of water and not venture out in the hottest hours between 11am and 3pm.
People were also advised to keep the home as cool as possible by closing curtains and windows during the day and opening them at night.
