Londoners are facing an unprecedented heatwave, with temperatures reaching record-breaking highs. A conference on extreme heat, which was scheduled to take place at LSE's Shaw Library in central London, has been cancelled due to the extreme heat.
The talk, titled 'Extreme Heat: Improving governance and strengthening action around the world', was due to take place in two parts. It was set to announce the first-ever winner of the Adeline Stuart-Watt Award for outstanding research contributions to climate adaptation. The award was established to honour the legacy of Adeline Stuart-Watt, a highly respected policy fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and member of the Environment and the Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance.
The red weather warning issued by the UK Met Office has forced the cancellation of the event. Temperatures reached 35.7C in Charlwood, Surrey, smashing the previous record of 35.6C set in 1976. The red weather warning is in place across parts of southern England and Wales until 9pm on Thursday, with an exceptional spell of hot and humid weather expected.
Other amber temperature warnings are in place across a wider area, reaching as far north as Merseyside. More than 1,000 schools have closed completely or sent pupils home early, and businesses such as Greggs have closed up shop to protect customers and colleagues during the severe hot weather.
Experts have warned that this pattern of regular heatwaves could be here to stay thanks to climate change. 'The dots are very clear, and they make a picture; one of records falling left, right and centre,' said Jim Dale. 'Yes, from time to time, in the past 50 or 100 years, we have had heatwaves. However, the top 10 global and UK temperatures have nearly all come in the last 20 years.'
