While here in Australia we’re experiencing multiple one-in-100-year floods and winters so cold and wet that our farmers can’t grow enough food to keep supermarket shelves stocked, a devastating heatwave is melting the the UK and Europe.
The effects of climate change in Europe mean that tens of millions of people are suffering through the worst heatwave the continent has ever seen. Fires are burning in France, Spain — even London. Dangerous heat levels have claimed thousands of lives from Madrid to Paris. And infrastructure is crumbling, with roads melting and airport runways buckling.
Here’s what the heatwave looks like from the people who live there.
The absurd
On Tuesday Britain recorded its hottest day at 40 degrees. Red weather warnings were issued for the whole country as temperatures soared. It didn’t stop the Queen’s Guard donning their bearskin hats and thick red jackets — but it did make guarding Buckingham Palace very thirsty work, as this image that has gone viral since yesterday shows.
Supermarkets’ fridge and freezer sections went down in the extreme heat, and shoppers couldn’t buy their cold items, and supermarkets were forced to throw the food away.
London’s Luton Airport, the UK’s fifth busiest, closed on Sunday after the runway melted. Passengers were rerouted to other airports, causing holiday mayhem.
And of course, the roads are melting.
The Washington Post even sent correspondents out to capture how quickly an icy pole melted in different cities across Europe — and many of their phones stopped working due to the heat.
The tragedy
With heatwaves come fires. Across Europe, Turkey, Greece, Spain, France and Portugal are dealing with wildfires.
In Britain, the London Fire Brigade declared a major incident as firefighters battled several significant fires across the capital during yesterday’s heatwave. This is footage from a fire in Dartford, less then 30km from London.
The kind of temperatures hitting Europe right now are particularly dangerous in cities, where concrete absorbs and radiates the hit, making the city even hotter and dangerous for those who live there.
The humorous
Of course, humans will also find a way to make the best of bad experiences, and this heatwave is no different. Social media is flooded with people swimming in public spaces, carrying electric fans as they explore a city, and generally doing whatever they can to keep cool.
This Londoner tried to enjoy the hottest day ever by having a cocktail in the bin (presumably filled with water).
This man did the compulsory “fry an egg in the heat of the sun” trick.
And look, we’re 99.9% sure this is photoshopped but those of you who have ever been delayed 90 minutes on the northern line will know that this is no lie.
In some ways this is great. While the die-hard denialists in Britain will still continue to bury their heads in the sand, the fence sitters will now have to consider that global warming is actually happening.
I don’t think there are many denialist in Britain. They’re mainly in the US and here.
Whingers; I had a class in a 45 degree room, c. forty years ago, and it was 46 in a portable classroom nearby. We went slow…
Prescience named the Black Forest.
The name came from medieval times when it wild forest and so thick as to be dark within. It’s been plantation for a couple of hundred years. ‘Bomber’ Harris was keen to firebomb it (and others) as psychological warfare but was prevented by one of Churchill after one of his War Cabinet quipped “Are you aware that they are private property?”.
Pom in a bin. Says it all really. Like the apocryphal frog in heating water.