Amid the heat wave that affects Europe, the United Kingdom recorded 39.1°C in Surrey, in southern England, the National Weather Service said on Tuesday (19). The data is provisional, but, if confirmed, would represent the country’s historic record.
The highest figure previously recorded was 38.7°C in Cambridge exactly three years ago. Wales already hit its mark on Monday, with a maximum of 35.3°C on the outskirts of Aberystwyth in the west.
The mark comes after the British observed what must be the hottest night in their history from Monday to Tuesday (19). Thermometers marked 25°C in parts of the country, which surpasses the previous night high of 23.9°C, recorded in 1990.
Experts project that the country, which does not have the infrastructure to deal with high temperatures, could reach 42°C.
London has triggered alert level 4, which indicates that the heat wave could have impacts beyond health, with consequences for transport systems, for example. At Luton airport, in the capital region, operations were suspended after the heat caused damage to the runway – the asphalt also melted on a military base.
Also in the capital, the local administration “wrapped” the structure of the Hammersmith Bridge in a kind of aluminum foil, so that light is reflected and the high temperatures do not force the closure of the passage, used by pedestrians and cyclists – in 2020 cracks were detected. in the construction of 135 years in a hot time.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it would be many years before the country could fully modify its infrastructure to cope with higher temperatures. “We’ve seen a considerable amount of disruption to travel,” he told the BBC. “The infrastructure, much of it built since the Victorian era, was simply not built to withstand this kind of temperature.”
Schools were closed and, in the face of possible disruption, several train companies urged commuters to avoid travel.
Penny Endersby, director of the British meteorological service, quoted to the BBC network studies that show that, without climate change, there would be no chance of the climate in the UK reaching 40°C. She added that by the end of this century, the phenomenon could be expected again — once every 3 years or every 15, “depending on the decisions we make from now on.”
António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, compared the climate emergency to a “collective suicide” in a speech to officials from 40 countries gathered in Berlin to talk about the climate crisis.
“Half of humanity lives in danger zones from floods, droughts, extreme storms and forest fires,” Guterres said, according to a report in the British newspaper The Guardian. “But we continue to feed our addiction to fossil fuels; we have a choice: collective action or collective suicide.”
In France, thermometers in Nantes reached 42°C for the first time in history. In Portugal, fires burned half of the city of Murça, where an elderly couple trying to flee were found dead in a charred car.
