England is also experiencing an unprecedented heat wave: temperatures could reach 40 degrees Celsius in the south of the country and the Midlands on Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 July, and beat the absolute record of 38.7 ° C recorded on the 25 July 2019 at Cambridge Botanic Garden. The national meteorological office, the Met Office, has for the first time in its existence published a ” Red alert “ to the heat wave in recent days, meaning a danger to the lives of people – including those in good health. The government held several crisis meetings (known as “Cobra”) decreeing a “national emergency” and also calling on the population to be extremely vigilant.
Weather is a very serious matter in the United Kingdom but until now, heat waves were celebrated as too rare moments, which had to be made the most of by rushing on the beaches, ice cream and sunscreen. The authorities have been communicating very differently in recent days, multiplying messages of caution and practical recommendations. The health security agency thus advises to “close the curtains in rooms exposed to the sun”, “drink a lot and avoid alcohol”of “slow down the pace of activity” at the hottest hours, or “pay attention to others, especially the elderly and the young, the very young and those who already have health problems”.
On Twitterthe chief medical adviser for England, Chris Whitty, who has become a familiar figure during the pandemic, is also asking his fellow citizens to “Watch for early signs of heat stroke, especially for older and sick people. Prompt intervention to lower their body temperature and rehydrate them can save lives. » Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, is urging residents to limit their journeys as much as possible on Monday and Tuesday and warns that public transport could be disrupted, as speed limits could intervene to limit the heating of rails and wagons. The British capital is one of the greenest in Europe, with many parks even in the city center and its lines Outdoor (“swimming pools”) and bodies of water have been taken by storm in recent days. But as elsewhere in the country, the houses are notoriously poorly insulated – from the cold as well as from the heat.
Putting the climate emergency back at the heart of the debate
The rest of the country could also register heat records, with perhaps 29 ° C in Northern Ireland, while the temperature rarely exceeds 25 ° C in summer, and 30 ° C in Glasgow, Scotland. Reaching or exceeding 40°C would represent a “historic moment” and “a potentially very serious situation, which shows how real climate change is”, said Grahame Madge, spokesman for the British Meteorological Office. His colleague, the scientist Nikos Christidis, specified on the Met Office website that the frequency of heat waves in the United Kingdom will continue to increase throughout the century with the most extreme temperatures very probably observed in the south-east of the country. .
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