‘Fun in the sun’ images risk lives, study finds

Fears the British public are failing to take the health risks of heatwaves seriously enough

‘How to represent these heatwave risks? Certainly not just with [images of] people having fun with water’

HEATWAVES are not taken seriously enough by the British public because of obsessions with sunny photographs, a study has found.

Research led by academics at the University of Exeter found that one in three British news articles about the 2019 European heatwave, which killed almost 900 people in the UK, used positive images of “leisure activities in or by water”. Yesterday was one of the hottest days of the year so far, with parts of London hitting 23C (73F), and warm weather expected to stay over the coming days.

Scientists argued that using “fun in the sun” images to illustrate stories about hot weather was inappropriate because of the dangerous health effects of high temperatures.

Posting on Twitter, Dr Saffron O’neill, the study’s lead author and an associate professor of geography at Exeter University, said the use of the pictures “marginalises the experiences of those vulnerable to heatwaves” and “excludes opportunities for imagining a more resilient future”.

UK articles were more likely than those published in the Netherlands, France or Germany to use this type of “fun in the sun” image, though all four countries in the study used them on at least 22 per cent of articles.

Britain’s housing stock and other infrastructure is not sufficiently adapted to high heat, with building design standards being updated this year to ensure better ventilation and protection from indoor “solar gain”.

The Met Office has said that British summers are likely to regularly see temperatures of above 40C (104F), even if climate change targets limiting temperature rises to 1.5C (34F) are met.

Three 2020 heatwaves made that summer the deadliest in recent years, contributing to 2,556 deaths, Public Health England estimated.

Researchers only examined articles that made mention of climate change, highlighting a “dissonance” between positive images and the accompanying articles that were often more negative in tone.

“When heatwaves are imagined as high days and holidays, as events to be welcomed and eagerly anticipated, they are displaced from uncomfortable everyday realities of how heatwaves manifest at home, at work, for travel and so on,” the paper concluded.

Older people and those with heart, respiratory and circulation problems are particularly vulnerable to heat stress, with sustained periods of high temperatures especially dangerous because the body does not have an opportunity to cool down.

Dr Valérie Masson-delmotte, a coauthor of the recent UN climate change report, said the analysis was “very relevant” and added: “Extreme heat is more severe and more intense in a warming world, with serious risks.

“How to represent these heatwave risks? Certainly not just with [images of ] people having fun with water.”

Richard Miles, a Met Office meteorologist, said that yesterday’s high temperatures were “particularly surprising” as it is so early in the month.

He said: “The average maximum temperature for May is 15.13C (59F) in the UK and 16.2C (61F) in England, so it’s quite a bit above that.

“But, obviously May tends to be quite a lot cooler at the start than at the end.”

These temperatures remain below the record temperature for the month, with the hottest May day ever reaching 32.8C (91F) in 1944.

Although temperatures are not set to climb any further over the weekend, the warmer than average weather is nevertheless here to stay, if only for a short time.

Mr Miles said: “24C (75F) is going to be the top temperature you’ll see in the South East and then tomorrow everywhere will be a bit cooler”.

The study is a pre-print, meaning it has not yet been through peer review.