A conference on extreme heat scheduled for Wednesday as part of London Climate Action Week has been cancelled because of extreme heat. The event was due to take place at LSE's Shaw Library in central London, but with temperatures reaching record-breaking highs and the Met Office issuing a rare red heat warning for only the second time in history, university bosses decided to pull the talk.
Event details and cancellation
According to a notice on the LSE website, 'We regret that this event has been cancelled due to the red extreme heat warning issued by the UK Met Office.' The event, titled 'Extreme Heat: Improving governance and strengthening action around the world,' was planned in two parts. It was to begin with the announcement of the first-ever winner of the Adeline Stuart-Watt Award for outstanding research contributions to climate adaptation. The award honours the legacy of the late 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. This was to be followed by a session on improving extreme heat governance and action globally, and a fireside chat where speakers would reflect on key challenges and opportunities for advancing extreme heat governance worldwide.
Record-breaking temperatures
The cancellation comes as the UK faces its second record-breaking heatwave of the year. Temperatures reached 35.7C in Charlwood, Surrey, on Wednesday, smashing the previous record of 35.6C set in 1976. The red weather warning came into force across parts of southern England and Wales at 9am and will remain in place until 9pm on Thursday. The Met Office stated: 'An exceptional spell of hot and humid weather is expected across this region, with impacts to the general population highly likely.'
Wider impacts
An amber warning is also in place across a wider area, reaching as far north as Merseyside, with additional amber temperature warnings in the southeast and east of England and the East Midlands until 9pm on Saturday. More than 1,000 schools have closed completely or sent pupils home early due to the heat, and Network Rail has urged people to avoid travel where possible. Even Greggs branches have closed 'to protect our customers and colleagues during the severe hot weather,' with shops expected to reopen on Friday when temperatures dip slightly but still surpass 30C in parts of the country.
Climate change concerns
Experts have warned that this pattern of regular heatwaves could be here to stay due to climate change. Jim Dale told Metro that the UK is in danger of 'boiling over' as extreme heat becomes commonplace. 'Yes, from time to time, in the past 50 or 100 years, we have had heatwaves,' he said. 'However, the top 10 global and UK temperatures have nearly all come in the last 20 years. The dots are very clear, and they make a picture; one of records falling left, right and centre.'
