Consider working from home in heatwave, says minister
THE next couple of days “may be a moment to work from home”, a senior minister said last night as Britain braced for several days of extremely hot weather.
Kit Malthouse, the Cabinet Office minister, has warned that road and rail faced “significant disruption” because of the heatwave as he urged people to avoid travelling tomorrow and Tuesday.
No 10 also warned schools against closing because of the risk that unsupervised children could come to harm in the scorching temperatures.
Senior ministers and officials met as part of the Government’s emergency Cobra committee ahead of a period when temperatures are expected to reach 40C (104F) in parts of England.
Mr Malthouse said: “Obviously the transport providers are messaging people that they should only travel if they really need to on Monday and Tuesday. Services are going to be significantly affected. If they don’t have to travel, this may be a moment to work from home.”
Mr Malthouse said steps have been taken to ensure hospitals and ambulances were prepared.
Schools were also issued with guidance to enable them to remain open. One official said: “It is better for kids to be supervised in that sort of weather.”
Schools also ought to stay open so key workers would not have to remain at home to look after them. The official added: “It is up to individual schools what to do but our advice is that schools should remain open.”
The meeting was briefed by officials on contingency planning from the UK Health Security Agency and Thomas Waite, the deputy chief medical officer.
Mr Johnson is hosting a private “thank you” lunch for MPs who supported him at his Chequers grace and favour home today. No 10 said no public money was involved and played down criticism of why Mr Johnson has not been involved.
A spokesman said: “The PM is working from Chequers today. It is not unusual for other Ministers to chair Cobra meetings.”
HOTEL rooms with air conditioning are being booked up by Britons anxious to stay cool during the heatwave.
The Met Office has issued its first ever red warning of extreme heat, meaning there is risk to life, as temperatures are forecast to reach 40C at least.
However, hotels are apparently cashing in on the heatwave, as those desperate to avoid heat stroke are booking up rooms equipped with air con.
Adrian Darling, 40, a product owner, has booked a Premier Inn hotel in Bedford for Monday and Tuesday – when temperatures are due to peak – costing £210 so he and and his young family can escape the soaring heat.
“We were a bit concerned about how hot our house would get. We have three young children and a baby under one month old,” said Mr Darling.
Hotels.com, the booking website, is offering its 30,000 followers the chance to win a one-night stay with air con.
A spokesman for Premier Inn said: “There is high demand for all our rooms at the moment.” However, they added it was difficult to determine whether this was specifically related to the heatwave.