From transport to zoos: how UK services coped in the sweltering heat
Train services have been cut, flights have been grounded and schools closed as temperatures soared into the high-30s in a heatwave stretching across England and Wales.
Temperatures hit 38.1C in Santon Downham, Suffolk, and 37.4C in Kew Gardens, west London, making it the hottest day of the year. Wales recorded its highest ever temperature, with the mercury creeping up to 35.3C.
Here, we take a look at the impact of the heatwave:
Planned surgeries were cancelled and IT servers required additional cooling across NHS trusts.
“The NHS estate is not built to cope with extreme weather. Over the past 48 hours we have heard that some trusts are having to scale back the number of planned surgeries as operating theatres are getting too hot,” said Miriam Deakin, interim deputy chief executive at NHS Providers, the organisation that represents hospitals.
“We have also heard that IT server rooms need additional cooling in buildings where the air conditioning is already overstretched.”
The health secretary, Steve Barclay, confirmed the emergency services were starting to see an increased call volume on Monday afternoon, but said extra resources had been put in place to manage the surge.
NHS Digital revealed that visits to the heat exhaustion section of the NHS website have increased by 525% in the past week.
But overall, the NHS’s top doctor praised staff for keeping services running despite the soaring temperatures.
NHS medical director Prof Sir Stephen Powis said: “Thanks to the hard work and innovation of NHS staff the overwhelming majority of NHS services are continuing to run despite the unprecedented heatwave.”
Rail, road and air were all affected by the high temperatures. Luton airport was temporarily forced to stop flights after a
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