British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government was accused on Sunday of failing to take a looming heat emergency seriously, as forecasters warned lives were at risk.
Johnson missed a crisis ministers’ meeting at Downing Street on Saturday while taking a weekend break at his country home in Checkers – and hosted a farewell party for friends on Sunday before he leaves office in September.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab then appeared to welcome the likelihood of temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in England for the first time.
“Obviously there’s some sensible practical advice that we’re talking about – stay hydrated, stay out of the sun in the hottest of times, wear sunscreen – things like that,” Raab told Sky News on Sunday.
“We should be enjoying the sunshine and actually we should be able to withstand some of the stress it’s going to cause,” he added, insisting there was no reason for schools to be closed when mercury peaks on Monday and Tuesday.
The comments caused a stir, as did Johnson’s absence from the Downing Street meeting on the government’s response to the heatwave. He has been forced to resign in part because of other parties being held during the Covid lockdown.
Tracy Nicholls, chief executive of the College of Paramedics, said after Raab on Sky: “This is not a nice hot day where we can put on a little sunscreen and go out and swim outside and eat.
“This is serious heat that could eventually result in people dying because it’s so cruel,” she said.
“We’re just not set up for that kind of heat in this country.”
Contrasting with Raab’s meekness, Government Secretary Kit Malthouse warned after Saturday’s meeting that transport services were facing “significant disruption” during the heatwave and said the public should work from home where possible.
The hottest temperatures are expected in the UK capital and Mayor Sadiq Khan advised Londoners not to use public transport unless “absolutely necessary”.
Ambulance services are in a crisis situation and some schools in southern England have already announced they will remain closed.
Police have urged the public to stay away from waterways after a 16-year-old boy drowned in a canal in the Manchester region of north-west England on Saturday.
The Met Office, the UK’s state meteorological agency, has issued a “red” warning of extreme heat for the first time, warning of “danger to life” and attributing the heatwave to man-made climate change.
The highest recorded temperature in the UK is currently 38.7°C recorded on 25th July 2019 in Cambridge, eastern England. But that appears to be topped in the Met Office forecasts for this week.
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