Heatwave: a record heat in the United Kingdom, more than 40°C recorded at Heathrow

Published on: 20/07/2022 – 00:37 Temperatures exceeded, on Tuesday, a level never reached in the United Kingdom with 40.2°C at Heathrow airport. Like the rest of Western Europe, the country is hit by a heat wave with devastating forest fires. First heatwave red alert in UK history. The temperature for the first time, Tuesday July 19, exceeded 40°C in the country. The mercury reached 40.2°C at Heathrow airport, in west London, then 40.3° C in Coningsby, a village in the northeast of England, according to the Met Office weather agency. This is 1.6°C higher than the previous British record, which dated from July 2019 with 38.7°C. The record was also exceeded in Scotland, with 34.8°C, as well as in 29 localities in ‘England. In July, temperatures are traditionally around 20°C in the United Kingdom. Faced with this heat wave, the authorities have encouraged citizens to cool off by any means. “In London, the Thames has turned into a seaside resort,” notes France 24 correspondent in London, Hervé Amoric. 01:37 But the United Kingdom is not ready for this kind of situation, the infrastructures are not adapted. Transport Minister Grant Schapps admitted to the BBC that the country’s Victorian-era public transport was unable to handle such heat. “All trains are canceled because of the heat. I don’t understand. They have trains in Australia. Which work. What’s the problem here? “, asked Ashley Meeloo, a 62-year-old user in London. firefighters were battling a blaze ravaging the village of Wennington in east London. The fire spread over an area of ​​40 hectares, including homes, farm buildings and garages. “I was sunbathing in my garden and a black cloud came,” Ciar Meadows, a 30-year-old housewife, told AFP. ‘to our house’, ‘our cars are gone’, she continued. Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted his ‘thanks to all firefighters and frontline services’ as several fires are counted in the country, including a dozen in London. A castigated media treatment The situation exacerbates tensions. Environmental activists from the group Extinction Rebellion smashed the windows of the publisher of the tabloid The Sun on Tuesday morning to protest against the treatment of the heat wave in certain media. “The Sun chose to feature images of women in bikinis, beaches and happy kids with ice cream,” the group said. Another tabloid, the Daily Express, headlined Monday: “It’s not the end of the world, stay cool and carry on”. the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Petteri Taalas expressed his hope for an “awakening” of governments, hoping that this type of phenomenon will “have an impact on voting behavior in democratic countries” .With AFP