Britain Smashes All-Time Heat Record As Temps Breach 40°C

29 Places In UK Top 2019 Record Of 38.7°C; London Declares ‘Major Incident’ After 10 Blazes Reported; Trains Hit Amid Fear Of 200-Yr-Old Infra Buckling; Six Drown

Britain shattered its record for highest temperature-ever registered on Tuesday amid a heat wave that has seared swaths of Europe, as the UK’s national weather forecaster said such highs are now a fact of life in a country ill-prepared for such extremes. The UK Met Office registered a provisional readings of 40.2°C at Heathrow Airport and 40.3 °C at Coningsby in eastern England — breaking the record set just hours earlier of 39.1°C in Surrey. Before Tuesday, the highest temperature recorded in the UK was 38.7°C, set in 2019. By later afternoon, 29 places in Britain had broken the record.

The sweltering weather has disrupted travel, healthcare and schools. Many homes, small businesses and even public buildings, including hospitals, don’t have air conditioning, a reflection of how unusual such heat is in the country better known for rain and mild temperatures. Sales of fans at one retailers increased by 1,300%.