UK June heat record broken for third day in a row as ministers urged to act
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- Toby Perkins, chair of parliament's environmental audit committee, warned ministers that extreme heat is an urgent threat and that the government is falling "far short of what is needed," predicting a significant number of deaths from the current heatwave and demanding answers from environment secretary Emma Reynolds on workplace temperature limits, air conditioning for vulnerable people, and school timetable changes.
- The UK's June maximum temperature record fell three days in a row this week, reaching a provisional 37.3C at Santon Downham, Suffolk, after Thursday's peak of 36.7C at Merryfield, Somerset.
- Emma Howard Boyd, chair of the National Heat Risk Commission, warned of economic losses of hundreds of millions of pounds from lower productivity and infrastructure failures and "hundreds of deaths across the country," calling the UK "poorly prepared" for extreme heat.
- More than 1,000 schools were closed due to the heatwave, with Global Witness analysis finding average 3pm temperatures of almost 33C in London and more than 1,200 schools located in areas where outdoor temperatures breached 34C.
- Hospitals in England declared critical incidents as medical equipment and IT systems failed on sweltering wards, with a surge in A&E admissions causing severe overcrowding and sleep-deprived staff working through the heat.
- The Climate Change Committee estimates 92% of existing UK homes will overheat within about 20 years and said in May that the UK was "built for a climate that no longer exists," while experts described the government's 2023 national adaptation programme as "very weak" — with the next iteration not due until 2028.
Why it matters: With the CCC estimating 92% of UK homes will overheat within ~20 years and the government's own adaptation plan branded "very weak" by experts, the pressure on ministers is structural rather than reactive — and because the next national adaptation programme is not due until 2028, hundreds of schools, hospitals, and homes face years of unaddressed heat risk before any policy step-change arrives.
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