The UK has recorded its hottest May temperatures on record, with a high of 35.1C in west London on Tuesday, surpassing the previous record by 2C. The Met Office described the temperatures as 'exceptional in the UK even in mid-summer, let alone in May'. A tropical night at Kenley airfield saw lows not dropping below 21.3C.
Climate experts have expressed alarm at the early-season heatwave, which has also affected France and Spain. Malcolm Mistry, a climate and health researcher at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said he had to stop playing cricket with his son after just half an hour due to the heat. 'I could feel I was panting a bit more heavily,' he said.
Garyfallos Konstantinoudis, an environmental epidemiologist at Imperial College London, estimates an extra 250 heat-related deaths will have occurred in England and Wales between Saturday and Monday. 'For vulnerable groups without access to cooling – particularly elderly people, the very young and those with underlying health conditions – these temperatures are quite simply dangerous and potentially fatal,' he said.
The heatwave is attributed to an area of high pressure trapping heat, exacerbated by climate change. Peter Thorne, a climate scientist at Maynooth University, called the records 'mind-bogglingly crazy'. UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell stated: 'The main culprit is the world’s addiction to burning coal, oil and gas, and destroying forests.'
In France, Monday highs surpassed 37.1C, activating the national warning system for the first time in May since 2004, with seven deaths linked to the heat. Spain may endure temperatures as high as 40C this week. Farmers across Europe have raised concerns about prolonged heat and drought.
