Temperature record in Great Britain: temperature above 40 degrees for the first time

Updated on 07/19/2022 at 6:49 PM

• On Tuesday, temperatures above 40 degrees were measured in Great Britain for the first time.
• The head of the British Met Office warns: If climate change is not stopped, the country will be exposed to similar temperature extremes every three years.

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Temperatures in the UK topped 40 degrees for the first time since records began. In Coningsby in the eastern county of Lincolnshire, 40.3 degrees were measured on Tuesday afternoon, according to preliminary data from the Met Office’s Met Office. 40.2°C was previously measured at London Heathrow Airport and at St James’s Park in the Government District.

Stephen Belcher, chief of science and technology at the Met Office, said he didn’t expect to break the 40 mark during his career. In a video from the British Weather Service. “For me it is a reminder that the climate has changed and will continue to change.”

Calculations made by his team showed that under normal conditions, in a healthy climate, it would be “virtually impossible” for temperatures to exceed 40 degrees in Great Britain. “It was only climate change caused by greenhouse gases that made these extreme temperatures possible,” emphasized the expert on atmospheric and ocean turbulence flow dynamics. He warned that if development continued, similar temperatures would be experienced every three years.

The previous temperature record only lasted for a short time

A British temperature record of 39.1 degrees was set in Charleswood in the English county of Surrey shortly before the new peak on Tuesday – but that lasted just over an hour. The possibility of breaking the record for Heathrow again on Tuesday cannot be ruled out. Temperatures are expected to reach 42 degrees in parts of England. Tuesday night also turned out to be the warmest yet.

Public life was disrupted in large parts of the country at the start of the week: schools remained closed, and some shops and restaurants closed. Rail traffic was delayed or even canceled entirely because the infrastructure was not designed for such high temperatures. According to one report, the runway at a military base in Oxfordshire has melted.

WMO expert: Heat waves like the current one are now part of the climate in Europe

The World Weather Organization (WMO) is convinced that heat waves like the one currently hitting Europe will from now on become part of the normal European climate in the summer months. “Such episodes are becoming more frequent and the negative trend will continue until at least 2060, regardless of the success of our climate protection efforts,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

It could also get hotter in Europe. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) does not currently expect a return to more normal temperatures during this time of year until the middle of next week.

Talas said governments need to do more to mitigate climate change. “I hope that these events will serve as a wake-up call for governments and have consequences in the upcoming elections in democratic countries.”

Talas: It’s already too late for the glaciers

Climate protection efforts are far from enough to limit warming to 1.5 degrees if possible, Taalas said, as nations agreed at the 2015 Paris climate agreement: “Right now we’re moving toward 2.5 degrees of warming.”

And with regard to glaciers, the efforts will come too late. “We expect glacier melting to continue for hundreds or thousands of years, as well as sea level rise,” Taalas said.

This is due to the high concentration of climate-damaging greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Reducing the emission of greenhouse gases can now significantly reduce their concentration in the atmosphere over a long period of time due to their long life. (dpa/mf/ank)
© dpa

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