LONDON (AP) — Britain broke its record for the hottest temperature ever recorded on Tuesday, with a provisional reading of 39.1 degrees Celsius (102.4 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the country’s weather service — and the heat was only expected to rise.
The highest temperature previously recorded in Britain was 38.7 C (101.7 F), a record set in 2019. Tuesday’s record was in Charlewood, England.
“Temperatures are likely to rise later today,” the forecaster said.
Shrove Tuesday came as the country was scorched by the heatwave that has gripped mainland Europe over the past week. Travel, healthcare and schools were disrupted in a country unprepared for such extremes.
Much of England, from London in the south to Manchester and Leeds in the north, remained under the country’s first “extreme” heat warning on Tuesday, meaning even healthy people are at risk of death.
Britain’s Supreme Court has closed to visitors after an air conditioning problem forced it to move hearings online. The British Museum plans to close early. Many public buildings, including hospitals, lack air conditioning, a reflection of how unusual such extreme heat is in a country better known for rain and cold temperatures.
Unusually hot and dry weather has gripped large parts of the continent since last week, sparking wildfires from Portugal to the Balkans and leading to hundreds of heat-related deaths. Images of flames racing onto a French beach and sweltering Britons – even at the seaside – have heightened concerns about climate change.
The UK Met Office also said provisional figures showed temperatures staying above 25 C (77 F) overnight in some parts of the country for the first time.
Many people coped with the heat wave by staying put. Traffic on the roads was down from its usual levels on Monday. Trains run at low speeds out of concern that the rails may bend or not move at all. London’s King’s Cross station, one of the country’s busiest rail hubs, was empty on Tuesday, with no trains on the busy East Coast line linking the capital with the north and Scotland. London Luton Airport had to close its runway due to heat damage.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Britain’s transport infrastructure, some of which dates back to Victorian times, “was simply not built to withstand this type of temperature – and it will be many years before we can replace the infrastructure.” with the kind of infrastructure that can’.
At least five people have reportedly drowned across the UK in rivers, lakes and reservoirs while trying to cool off.
Climate experts have warned that global warming has increased the frequency of extreme weather events, with studies showing that temperatures in the UK are now 10 times more likely to reach 40 C (104 F) than in the pre-industrial era. Drought and heat waves associated with climate change have also made wildfires more difficult to fight.
The dangers of extreme heat were shown in southern Europe. At least 748 heat-related deaths have been reported in the heat wave in Spain and neighboring Portugal, where temperatures reached 47 C (117 F) earlier this month.
In the Gironde region of southwestern France, fierce wildfires continue to spread through dry pine forests, thwarting efforts by more than 2,000 firefighters and water-bombing planes.
More than 37,000 people have been evacuated from homes and summer vacation spots since the fires broke out on July 12 and burned 190 square kilometers (more than 70 square miles) of forest and vegetation, Gironde authorities said.
A smaller third fire broke out late Monday in the Medoc wine region north of Bordeaux, further straining firefighting resources. Five campsites burst into flames in the beach area of the Atlantic coast, where fires raged, around the sea basin of Arcachon, famous for its oysters and resorts.
But the weather forecast offered some comfort, with temperatures from the heat expected to ease along the Atlantic coast on Tuesday and the chance of rain falling late in the day.
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Associated Press writer John Lester in Le Pecq, France contributed to this story.
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