London Burns as the UK Battles Record Breaking Heatwave

The extreme heat is not something that the UK is equipped to deal with on any level; less than fiver per cent of homes have air conditioning, and public transport isn’t air conditioned either, with commuters on buses and The Tube facing a sticky commute.

Hugh Whitfeld is the Europe Bureau Chief for the Seven Network Australia and told 96five’s Ken and Nicky that the heat has caused scenes that we’re used to seeing in Australia, but are unprecedented in the UK.

“The Brits are definitely not used to these conditions here, with fires being sparked in grasslands and woodlands surrounding London.  I’m currently in East London where a fire ripped through some playing fields and got into suburban homes.

“In Wennington, a nearby village there were also homes lost and an 800 year old church in the line of fire.  These homes are your classic London terraces that you picture when you think of London that are on fire because of the heat.”

Hugh also said that emergency workers have had to deal with conditions they’ve never experienced before.

“They’re not used to these grass and bush fires that are sparked by the extreme heat.  There’s no such thing as a rural fire service or voluntary firefighters such as in Australia; these are metro firefighters having to fight these fires because there’s no infrastructure in those rural communities to respond to heat and the issues that come with it.

“In Australia our parks and gardens have sprinklers to keep everything green – they don’t have any of that here because it rains so much.  It hasn’t rained here for three weeks and add to that the 40 degree temperatures – the place looks so brown, it looks like Australia in a drought.”

Listen to Hugh’s full report in the audio player above.

UK firefighters are battling unprecedented conditions with record temperatures above 40C resulting in fires that have destroyed several London homes. pic.twitter.com/JfWqdPLGch

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) July 19, 2022

Main Image: Grassfires have led to loss of property across London and the south of England (BBC News).