Smarter For Ten THE HEAT IS ON MARION McMULLEN
Hot and bothered. looks at heatwave Britain
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Wildfires have broken out in beauty spots in Cornwall, Devon and Norfolk. Fires broke out at Zennor Head, inset, in Cornwall, closing part of the South West Coast Path, and at Morden Hall Park in London, destroying part of a meadow. More wildfires broke out in England and Wales last month than all of
2021. 6
A Victorian steam yacht gondola that ferries tourists across Coniston Water in the Lake District was forced to stop sailing in the record-breaking heat as the engine room hit unbearable temperatures. 1
This year has been the driest in decades so far, with drought looming. Temperatures soared to record highs last month, surpassing 40°C for the first time for the UK, and the Met Office issued a four day amber warning for extreme heat this week. 2
Britain is facing the driest period since the summer of 1976 when people across the country were urged to save water. That heatwave lasted from June 23 to July 8 when temperatures reached into the 90°F. Romanian tennis player Ilie Nastase, inset, felt the heat at Wimbledon when temperatures of 104°
(40°C) were registered on Centre
Court.
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Dozens of trains across the country were cancelled or delayed last month because of problems caused by the extreme heat and many schools were closed.
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The extreme heat has been described as a death sentence for Britain’s wildlife, with blackbirds and thrushes unable to find worms in a rock-hard ground to feed their starving chicks. 3 The source of the River Thames has moved five miles downstream for the first time in its history. It comes after weeks of dry spells. Little rainfall, combined with record-breaking temperatures have left rivers at exceptionally low levels, depleted reservoirs and dried out soils.
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People are being urged to use 35 litres less of water per day by not using hosepipes and showering less. There are fears we could follow France which has set up a crisis team to tackle a historic drought that has left more than 100 regions short of drinking water. French Minister Christophe Bechu warned: “There is nothing left in the pipes.” 4
Hosepipe bans are in force in some parts of the UK. Water features in some historic gardens have dried up, bats were found disorientated and dehydrated at Wallington in Northumberland, right, and a water wheel that powers a flour mill in Cambridgeshire had to stop turning due to low river flows.
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The Met Office warned this week there is “very little meaningful rain” on the horizon for England, much of which is parched, and the The Environment Agency has said they are seeing the “early signs of drought”.