London's Burning: How Brits are coping with record-breaking heatwave

Just last month, London was reporting record-breaking temperatures. We're now in the first few days of summer, and temperatures are once again soaring well beyond seasonal expectations, creeping towards 40℃ – a new record for June. 

For context, the notorious Death Valley National Park in California, US, averages at sweltering 44℃ in June. 

For Brits, who are well-known for their opinions on the weather, the extreme heat is no joke.

Risk to human life

The cause of the heatwave is a heat dome that is covering the region. The intense and unprecedented heat led to the UK's Met Office issuing a rare Red Warning for extreme heat across large parts of the country for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, meaning a risk to human life. 

A recent sobering report by the World Health Organization highlights just how serious these temperature spikes can be: there have been over 200,000 heat-related deaths across Europe since 2022, many of which were preventable. 

The warm weather brings other risks too. In France, dozens have died from water-related incidents, as people swim in lakes, reservoirs and rivers to cool down. 

The high temperatures began over the French festival of Fete de la Musique, which led to authorities canceling some events and banning the consumption of alcohol in a bid to keep revellers safe.

On Friday, Parisian authorities also postponed the annual Pride march – scheduled for Saturday – to September.

Climate concerns

Europe's heatwave also coincides with London Climate Action Week, one of the world’s largest independent climate events, where organizers and attendees discuss the steps required to combat global warming at a city level.

With temperatures records continuing to be broken in 2026, experts continue to warn that the frequent extreme highs are consistent with human-induced climate change. The fact that the world is in an El Nino phase, potentially one of the strongest on record according to scientists, could make matters even more severe as we enter the second half of the year.