London faces the hottest day in its history

• Heat wave The heat wave in the United Kingdom causes the closure of Luton airport and the cancellation of hundreds of train journeys

After the hottest night ever recorded in the

(25.9 degrees in Emley Moor), the British are preparing for what may be the hottest day in their history, with temperatures that could reach

and in other points in southern

.

At nine in the morning (10 in Spain) the thermometers already rose above

, one day after Luton airport had to temporarily close due to damage caused to the runway by excessive heat .

Hundreds of train journeys were suspended, three lines of

(not equipped with air conditioning) were closed, transport infrastructures were seriously affected, as well as ambulance services and hospitals, not prepared to function in higher temperatures at 40 degrees.

Red alert for extreme heat

The authorities recommended that the British work from home and avoid non-essential trips, amid criticism of

cabinets

to plan the response to the heat wave (the

held a party at Checkers and boarded a fighter at an airshow in the countdown to the hottest day).

For the first time, the British authorities have declared

.

The record to date had been recorded by Cambridge, with 38.7 degrees in 2019.

The ten hottest years in the

have been in the last century and the trend is increasing year on year.

The Met Office has warned that climate change makes heat waves like the one sweeping southern Europe and just hitting the UK up to ten times more likely.

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