UK’s ageing key infrastructure exposed in extreme heat as ministers urged to tackle ‘silent killer’

Britain is ill-equipped to cope with extreme temperatures and its key infrastructure requires urgent investment to prevent it from collapsing in the sweltering heat, a number of climate experts have said as the country ground to a halt on the hottest June day on record.

The Met Office recorded a temperature of 36.7C in Merryfield, Somerset, on Thursday, a day after Gosport in Hampshire reached 36.1C; Emergency services have come under intense pressure due to the increase in calls. Among those affected by the bad weather conditions, 10 people were taken to hospital after being trapped in traffic jams on the M25 on Wednesday.

It was even hotter in Europe on Thursday, with the mercury reaching 40C in Germany. More than 200 people have died in Spain due to the heat this week, according to health bosses. Two nuclear reactors in France were shut down to prevent the rivers they release water from overheating.

In England, three NHS trusts were forced to announce critical incidents due to the failure of MRI scanners at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital; Police in Wales have confirmed the death of a 50-year-old swimmer who got into trouble on Aberavon beach.

London Ambulance Service said it responded to a record number of life-threatening emergencies on Wednesday. Meanwhile, South East Water announced a temporary ban on hosepipe and train operator South Western Rail advised passengers to avoid non-essential travel until Saturday.

More than 1,000 schools have also been closed to protect pupils and staff, with many considering closing on Friday after the Met Office extended its red “extreme heat” weather warning for the South East and London.

Meanwhile, MPs on the government’s Environmental Audit Committee have warned Environment Minister Emma Reynolds that she must tackle the “silent killer” of extreme heat, saying the number of heat-related deaths is expected to rise to 10,000 a year by 2050.

and talk IndependentClimate scientists and infrastructure experts said this week that disruptions to schools, hospitals and travel had highlighted the urgent need to improve buildings and transport links in the face of rising temperatures.

Vice-president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Dr. Steve Denton said: “The age profile of our assets, combined with the impacts of climate change and the confidence we have in our infrastructure, means we need to take action to better care for these assets so they are more resilient to rising temperatures.”

Feja Lesniewska, lecturer in sustainable transitions at Surrey Law School, said: Independent: “The UK’s climate change policy has failed to keep pace, with adaptation underfunded and de-prioritised, while progress on decarbonising high-emission sectors such as transport and construction has been too slow.” He added: “We are not prepared for extreme temperatures that expose infrastructure, public services and vulnerable communities to avoidable climate risks that are already emerging nationally today.”

Swansea University climate scientist Mary Gagen said the “heat dome” of hot temperatures over the UK was placing an unprecedented strain on the UK’s infrastructure because, unlike the 1976 heatwave, it occurred against a background of rising temperatures.

“Every now and then the weather drops six and we encounter an extreme event,” he said. “But climate change has put seven, eight, nine and 10 on these dice as well, and we are not ready for these additional disasters.”

Professor Gagen said there should be legal limits on people working outside and buildings should include cross ventilation to help them stay cool.

Last month, the Committee on Climate Change, an independent advisory body, published a report saying Whitehall had failed to keep up with the pace of climate change, with more than nine in 10 existing homes at risk of overheating. The group is calling for £11 billion a year to be invested in heat-fighting measures in the public and private sector, including £700 million for cooling in hospitals and care homes.

The Environmental Audit Committee wrote to Ms Reynolds this week after an investigation into extreme weather conditions was launched in April. The group’s chairman, Labor MP Toby Perkins, said: “Parts of the UK this week are facing temperatures approaching 40 degrees – extreme heat levels that were once unthinkable but are now increasingly likely.

“The effects of such extreme heat can be devastating and devastating. Without action, we will see economic productivity take a hit, more people requiring hospital care and poor mental health, more hospitals, care homes and schools overheating, and more of our critical transport, water, food and IT systems failing.”

He added: “The evidence that extreme heat is an urgent threat to the UK could not be clearer. But the government is now ‘far behind what is needed’, according to independent climate advisers.”

“I want to know what steps the government is taking to combat overheating, a problem that will only get worse if left unaddressed, and its views on key measures to adapt to what appears to be our new normal.”

Philip Dunne, the committee’s previous chairman and MP for Ludlow in Shropshire until 2023, said: Independent Regulations need to be updated to support cooling systems, such as cold air from heat pumps in new buildings.

He also said improving cooling systems in public sector buildings such as schools and hospitals was “a matter of government priority”.

On Thursday, education minister Bridget Phillipson said this week’s school closures showed “there is more to do” to provide schools with modern buildings. The National Education Union has called for a timetable to be set for the installation of air conditioning units in schools.

National Federation of Builders spokesman Rico Wojtulewicz said: Independent He said regulations covering the provision of cooling systems in new homes needed to be updated to make their installation commercially viable.

A government spokesman said: “We are working across government to carefully consider the latest recommendations from the Committee on Climate Change on climate adaptation.

“We are already taking action to help protect people, livelihoods and our natural environment by investing in clean energy, ensuring new residential buildings are designed to minimize unwanted heat from the sun and launching the Local Government Climate Service, which gives local authorities easy access to tailored information to support adaptation planning.

“During this week’s extreme heat, people should pay attention to the latest warnings and guidance issued by the UK Health Safety Agency for their area.”