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image source, Reuters
Hydration is essential during heat waves.
What happens when it reaches 40ºC in a country where summer is a season that does not always make its appearance on the calendar?
The official response is to declare the first alert in its history for extreme heat.
The British observe these days with a mix of joy and dread how the thermometer rises and reaches historical records. And, while the barbecues are not enough and many are happy to finally be able to put on their sandals and shorts and sleep -yes, you can- without a blanket, the truth is that high temperatures are collapsing parts of a country that is not adapted for intense heat.
Some public transport services have had to be canceled and firefighters in some English towns are working non-stop to deal with fires unleashed by high temperatures
What in some Caribbean countries could be considered winter, in Scotland is a heat wave: three days in a row with temperatures above 25 degrees. In England, somewhat less cold, the thermometer has to rise above 28 to be considered a heat wave. The more than 40ºC that were reached this week exceed anything imaginable by the British so far.
melted runway
The luton airportnorth of London, had to suspend all operations on Monday because the airfield’s runway had literally Melted. The heat deformed some areas of the esplanade, turned into a huge frying pan under the 36 degrees that were recorded.
Parts of the runway at Luton Airport have melted.
While other countries in southern Europe build their roads using polymers to prevent them from melting, in the United Kingdom this is not so common, so on some roads the operators have had to spread sand to prevent the molten asphalt cause accidents.
Insurers have also alerted drivers to check the pressure of their tires due to the risk of bursting due to high temperatures.
Nor are the train tracks prepared for the heat. High temperatures have forced cancel hundreds of rail services because the tracks are at risk of deforming in the sun.
Or to catch fire, as happened last week on a bridge that connects Victoria station, one of the most important in London, with Brixton. A spark caught the wooden crossbars of the tracks, causing a fire that had to be extinguished by emergency services.
The rails can reach a temperature of over 60 degrees with the heat, dilate and deform when the trains pass, which is why it has been limited its speed. On some routes in the south of the country, where the highest temperatures are being experienced, trains cannot travel at more than 90 kilometers per hour, which translates into delays and added ordeal for travellers.
As a precaution, a few days before temperatures reached records in the United Kingdom, operators of the railway system had to paint parts of the tracks white to mitigate the effects of the sun.
The London Underground -and its long-suffering passengers- is another of those affected by the heat wave. Most of the lines do not have air conditioning, so the cars have become authentic ovens. That on the lines that are working.
image source, medium AP
The London Underground has become an oven.
The same happens with buses, most of which are not acclimatized and have tiny windows through which, more than air, fire enters.
But to protect yourself from the heat you also have to know a series of basic rules, and the most basic of all is that you have to take shelter from the sun. Rudyard Kipling is credited with a phrase that would later inspire Noel Coward in the 1930s to compose a humorous song: “Only mad dogs and the English go out in the midday sun.”
The authorities have had to ask the British to don’t leave your houses Unless it is essential, they should avoid playing sports outdoors and stay hydrated.
The problem is that many houses these days have become little hells. Blinds, key elements in countries accustomed to heat, are practically non-existent in the United Kingdom, which has to defend itself from the sun’s rays with net curtains and curtains.
image source, fake images
Going out in the sun is not recommended.
Barely 0.5% of British homes have air conditioning, so these days fans and portable coolers have flown out of many stores.
The same happens with the schools. The school year is not over yet, but some centers have decided to close earlier to protect children, against government recommendations to keep them open.
Many businesses, especially the local ones, are also not prepared to combat the high temperatures, which translates into spoiled products.
Refrigerators without doors are frequent, which at these temperatures are not capable of maintaining, for example, fresh milk without cuttingwhile the beloved chocolate bars they fold and languish molten on the shelves or are removed until the wave passes.
In some supermarkets, the refrigerators have directly broken down due to the effort they are having to make to maintain the right temperature when the environment is very hot.
Broken fridges in a London supermarket.
Even drinking water ‘could taste and smell funny’ these days, they have warned the population in some parts of south London. It is due, apparently, to the chlorine used to treat it, which does not give time for it to evaporate due to the high demand.
Although many British people have decided to take it with humor, and social networks are full of jokes and memes like that of the Internet user who assured on Twitter that “tomorrow it will be so hot that it is possible that two hobbits will appear and throw a ring in my garden”, with a frame from the movie “The Lord of the Rings”, the situation is would be.
Calls to emergency services due to extreme heat have skyrocketed in the past two days, and Britain’s NHS has had to cancel many operations because operating theaters are too hot.
Also, firefighters in cities like London can’t cope due to the fires that have broken out in recent hours due to the high temperatures and the dryness of the vegetation.
The mayor of the British capital said that The situation is critical” and that fire departments are under “immense pressure.”
The stifling heat won’t last. Temperatures are expected to drop this week. But the heat waves are here to stayexperts warn.
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