It really WAS Britain’s hottest day After nation wilted and transport went into meltdown, the experts admit what we’d all suspected...
ON TRAINS AND PLANES, CHAOS BRINGS THE COUNTRY TO A STANDSTILL
‘It’s a national embarrassment’
IT came as no surprise to anyone who stepped outside on Thursday when it was declared Britain’s hottest ever July day, registering a sweltering 38.1C (100.6F).
But it turns out that it may actually have been the hottest day recorded in British history after 38.7C (101.66F) was measured at Cambridge University Botanic Gardens.
The Met Office said the new figure required further ‘quality control and analysis’ before being officially entered in the record books.
But if validated it will become the highest temperature officially recorded in the UK, outstripping the 38.5C in Faversham, Kent, in August 2003. Thursday beat the previous high for the month of 36.7C at Heathrow in July 2015.
The incredible temperatures were caused by a plume of hot air funnelled from the south.
Dr Mark McCarthy, of the National Climate Centre at the Met Office, said: ‘We take the quality of our recordings very seriously.
‘We are talking about a potential new record for the highest temperature in the UK and we therefore need to thoroughly investigate the observation with Cambridge University Botanic Garden through statistical analysis and by visiting, to check the site and equipment and ensure there are no potential problems.’
The Met Office says weather records are only used from weather observation sites with calibrated, standard instruments and carefully monitored exposure.
It has observations in a digital database going back to 1853, but there are also historical paper records stretching even further.
The heatwave left holidaymakers and commuters at boiling point yesterday, with Britain’s creaking transport system described as a national embarrassment after one of the busiest days of the year was hit by travel chaos.
Hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled at UK airports after storms in Britain and across Europe wreaked havoc – just as families tried to jet off for their summer holidays.
Some families were stuck on planes for eight hours as flights were trapped on runways, waiting for permission to take off. Others slept in terminal buildings after flights were delayed repeatedly.
The weather-related disruption was compounded by a technical problem with Britain’s air traffic control systems, which caused further misery.
The radar glitch occurred at midday at Swanwick Air Traffic Control Centre, the main base of Nats, the organisation that monitors and regulates UK airspace, and was not fixed until 3pm.
The disruption was not limited to airports. Despite temperatures dropping below 30C yesterday, rail commuters endured another day of misery as Network Rail engineers struggled to fix overhead power cables damaged in the scorching sun on Thursday.
Some lines ran an emergency timetable, operating barely half of their usual services. Several train firms advised passengers not to travel unless it was essential.
Meanwhile, problems in Paris also caused delays and cancellations on the cross-Channel Eurostar service, with passengers told to abandon their journeys. Last night, Graham Stringer, a Labour member of the Commons transport committee, said the problems had exposed the weaknesses in Britain’s transport infrastructure, addi ng:‘It’ sa national embarrassment.
‘We don’t have many extreme weather events compared to lots of places, but we are completely unprepared for them when they do happen. This applies at both ends of the temperature scale.’ With schools breaking up for the holidays, yesterday was one of the busiest for air travel. But there was disruption at Stansted, Luton, Heathrow and Gatwick. By 4pm, Gatwick said 42 departures had been cancelled, and flights were also delayed by around 45 minutes on average. At Heathrow, 72 flights out of the 650 scheduled were axed and many more were delayed. Families, including young children, resorted to sleeping on airport floors overnight on Thursday. Furious passengers complained
about the lack of information from airport and airline officials.
Passengers also complained about being trapped on grounded planes, with one writing on social media: ‘My sister with her little kids is stuck in a plane for 10 hours and it never took off. Well done Heathrow.’
Political science teacher Simon Dix wrote on Twitter: ‘We have been stranded at Heathrow for 16 hours! We sat on the plane for 5 hours.’
A rail passenger tweeted: ‘What an absolute embarrassment. A bit of heat and the infrastructure on numerous train lines fail.’
A Heathrow spokesman said: ‘We are working... to keep passengers travelling today. We apologise for any inconvenience.’ BA added: ‘We are doing everything we can to minimise the disruption.’
There was some good news, though, after Britain’s biggest rail operator, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), backtracked on its decision to refuse to compensate season ticket holders who followed advice not to travel during scorching weather.