‘Furnace Friday:’ Ill-Equipped for Heat, Britain Has a Meltdown
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/27/world/europe/uk-hot-weather.html
Source: By Ceylan Yeginsu, The New York Times. F
Excerpt: LONDON — To the casual observer, it may seem as if Britain is completely unprepared to deal with long spells of scorching-hot weather. The casual observer would be mostly right. The monthlong heat wave has broken records, spawned wildfires in Wales and England, spurred delays in the transportation system and given birth to names like “Furnace Friday,” as Britons tried to find ways to describe this puzzling pain. “Shops are out of fans, ice, sun cream, ice cream, and there’s a water shortage that has left our beautiful, lush parks all parched and yellow,” said Lucy Thornton.... Summer started out with unusually good weather: The rain stopped, the skies cleared, and the sun came out. Some Britons were so delighted that they canceled vacations abroad. ...Then came the heat. Unlike other European countries that are accustomed to coping with hot weather, Britain had what others saw as a meltdown because it generally lacks the infrastructure and resources to deal with the effects of long spells of high temperatures. Air-conditioning is a luxury here. Not only do most homes not have it, but they are built to keep the heat in, experts say. As a result, the demand for fans has skyrocketed, leaving most stores in London out of stock. ...On Thursday, a high temperature of 35.1 degrees Celsius, or 95.2 degrees Fahrenheit, was recorded in Surrey, in southern England — the highest in Britain this year. ...The heat has also exacerbated London’s toxic air-pollution levels, prompting the mayor, Sadiq Khan, to issue a warning on Thursday....
Source: By Ceylan Yeginsu, The New York Times. F
Excerpt: LONDON — To the casual observer, it may seem as if Britain is completely unprepared to deal with long spells of scorching-hot weather. The casual observer would be mostly right. The monthlong heat wave has broken records, spawned wildfires in Wales and England, spurred delays in the transportation system and given birth to names like “Furnace Friday,” as Britons tried to find ways to describe this puzzling pain. “Shops are out of fans, ice, sun cream, ice cream, and there’s a water shortage that has left our beautiful, lush parks all parched and yellow,” said Lucy Thornton.... Summer started out with unusually good weather: The rain stopped, the skies cleared, and the sun came out. Some Britons were so delighted that they canceled vacations abroad. ...Then came the heat. Unlike other European countries that are accustomed to coping with hot weather, Britain had what others saw as a meltdown because it generally lacks the infrastructure and resources to deal with the effects of long spells of high temperatures. Air-conditioning is a luxury here. Not only do most homes not have it, but they are built to keep the heat in, experts say. As a result, the demand for fans has skyrocketed, leaving most stores in London out of stock. ...On Thursday, a high temperature of 35.1 degrees Celsius, or 95.2 degrees Fahrenheit, was recorded in Surrey, in southern England — the highest in Britain this year. ...The heat has also exacerbated London’s toxic air-pollution levels, prompting the mayor, Sadiq Khan, to issue a warning on Thursday....