Daily Life Paralyzed by Worst Heatwave... "If We Don't Cooperate, We All Die" Climate Crisis Warning

Train and flight delays and cancellations continue
Increasing closures of restaurants and bars

On the 18th (local time), citizens using the subway passing through central London are using newspapers as fans.
[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] The UK, where the weather is usually cool enough in midsummer to not need air conditioning, has been thrown into great chaos due to the worst heatwave in history.

According to the UK daily The Telegraph on the 18th (local time), the unprecedented heatwave has caused disruptions in transportation. Network Rail (NR) has limited train speeds for safety reasons, and there have been frequent delays and cancellations of train services. As a result, train stations during the busy commuting hours were overcrowded with office workers unable to board trains. At London Luton Airport, all flights were suspended for two hours due to runway issues caused by the heatwave.

Daily life, including workplaces and schools, was also paralyzed. About 200 schools in the UK temporarily closed or dismissed students early, and more restaurants and pubs have stopped operating. Many office workers switched to remote work, and construction workers, who primarily work outdoors, have been sent home early following guidance.

This chaos occurred because this heatwave in the UK is quite different from usual. Summers in the UK are known for frequent rain and cool weather, with clear days being rare. Therefore, buildings such as houses are designed primarily for heating, with little investment in cooling systems.

Accordingly, the US daily The New York Times (NYT) analyzed that "in the UK, where air conditioners are treated as almost useless appliances, people are inevitably more vulnerable to damage caused by sudden heatwaves." According to a report published last year by the UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), less than 5% of households in the UK have air conditioners installed. Furthermore, most are portable air conditioners, and central air conditioning systems common in countries like South Korea are rarely found except in some luxury apartments in London.

The UK government issued a historic first-ever red heat warning centered on London and other parts of England starting at midnight the previous day. On that day, some areas including London saw daytime high temperatures exceed 37 degrees Celsius. The US Washington Post (WP) reported that this could be the highest summer temperature recorded in the UK since official observations began in 1659.

On the 18th (local time), a Buckingham Palace guard in London, England, drinks water amid the heatwave. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, as abnormal weather such as heatwaves and heavy rains are observed worldwide, there is growing consensus on the need to reduce carbon emissions. Ant?nio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, sent a video message to the Petersberg Climate Dialogue the day before, saying, "What worries me most is that despite facing a global climate crisis, we are unable to respond as a multilateral community," and added, "We must choose between collective action or collective suicide."

Secretary-General Guterres further emphasized that "to continue meeting agreed climate goals and build a community capable of responding to climate change, trust must be restored and joint action taken," urging the Group of Seven (G7) and Group of Twenty (G20) to take a leading role.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.