Boris Johnson accused of ‘checking out’ as UK swelters in searing heat

theguardian.com:

Airport runways have been closed and 999 calls have surged as Britain endured some of the hottest temperatures on record, with Boris Johnson accused of being “checked out” after he missed emergency Cobra meetings about the searing heat.

With the Met Office forecasting temperatures to rise again on Tuesday to a record-breaking 41C (106F) in parts of southern and central England, the prime minister attended Farnborough airshow, where he gave a whimsical speech about completing a loop the loop and a barrel roll in a Typhoon fighter jet.

Wales was the first to break records by recording a provisional new high of 35.3C at Gogerddan near Aberystwyth, which was surpassed a couple of hours later when 37.1C was reached in Hawarden, Flintshire.

By 4pm, England had logged a high of 38.1C at Santon Downham in Suffolk, just shy of the 38.7C record set in Cambridge in 2019. Scotland is poised to experience its hottest day on record on Tuesday.

Operations and medical appointments were cancelled because of the heat, NHS leaders said, and a fourth person died after getting into difficulty in the water. The body of a 16-year-old boy was recovered from Bray lake in Berkshire shortly before 11.45am, when the temperature was already 31C.

A 13-year-old boy who died on Sunday in a river near Ovingham, Northumberland, was named on Monday afternoon as Robert Hattersley.

On Saturday a 16-year-old boy died in Salford Quays, Greater Manchester, and a 50-year-old man died in a reservoir near Leeds.

Luton airport temporarily closed to flights after a runway defect was discovered. Passengers on an easyJet flight from Catania were told by the captain that they were unable to land at Luton because parts of the runway had in effect melted.

The runway at RAF