Passengers on the London Underground during the heatwave on 26 JuneGuy Bell / Alamy
The heatwave that hit Europe at the end of June was the hottest ever and came less than a month after another record-breaking heatwave in May. Now, another heatwave has started that is forecast to last even longer, bringing temperatures of up to 34°C (93°F) to the UK.
To better understand the impacts of this heat, I visited the University of Brighton’s Environmental Extremes Laboratory, just across a field from the stadium of Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club, which has worked with the lab to assess players’ fitness. Spending just 10 minutes in a heat chamber was enough to show that as heatwaves get more frequent and intense, I’m not prepared – and you probably aren’t, either.
The heat chamber is a windowed room where researchers can control temperature, moisture and oxygen content, recreating the ambient conditions found at Mexico City’s high-elevation World Cup stadium or in a European city during a heatwave.
“[Heatwaves] are here to stay, and we’ve got to help people get used to preparing for heatwaves and dealing with it, not on an off-chance, but on a regular, every-year basis, on multiple occasions,” said lab director Neil Maxwell during my visit.
