The heatwave which invaded England recently was no ordinary one.
At numerous locations the temperature exceeded 40°C (104°F) which, as far as we know, has never before happened in the British Isles. England definitely isn’t prepared for such temperatures, as Melissa Harrison makes abundantly clear in the Washington Post; an airport closed when the runway deformed in the heat, railway tracks buckled, the London fire department got so many calls it was their busiest day since world war II. The U.K. Meteorological Office advised people (especially the young, the old, and the ill) to go nowhere and do nothing but stay hydrated.
Not an ordinary heat wave.
Open Mind 