The double-decker was consumed by flames within minutes, its electric charging points destroyed alongside it. Workers at the Westbourne Park bus depot in west London watched in shock on Wednesday evening as the No 23 bus caught fire on the hottest June day since records began.
The blaze, which sent plumes of smoke visible from Lord’s cricket ground where England women were playing the West Indies in the T20 World Cup, was tackled by more than two dozen firefighters. London Fire Brigade said it was called at 6.23pm and had the fire under control by 7.11pm. No injuries were reported, but the bus and two electric vehicle charging points were destroyed. Westbourne Park Tube station shut as a precaution, reopening at 6.56pm.
“Electric bus fire in London on hottest June day as heatwave red warning extended until Friday.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation. The depot, operated by First Bus London, serves several routes. The incident echoes a similar event in January 2024, when a fleet of electric buses was withdrawn from south London after a double-decker caught fire in Wimbledon during the morning rush hour. That same month, another electric bus burned in a garage on Chelverton Road, Putney.
The fire came as the Met Office extended a red weather warning for extreme heat, originally due to end Wednesday night, until 9pm on Friday for London and parts of southeast England. Temperatures had already sparked 4am thunderstorms on Tuesday and chaotic transport scenes on Wednesday, with many struggling to sleep through the oppressive heat.
“Thursday will see the peak of the heat for many, though those further east will retain extreme heat on Friday and Saturday and could continue to see further impacts,” the Met Office said. The red warning will be replaced by an amber warning covering much of the south east, East Anglia and part of the Midlands, lasting until 9pm on Saturday. Temperatures are forecast to drop from a high of 37°C on Thursday to 32°C on Saturday, then to a still-toasty 26°C on Sunday with cloud cover.
The heatwave is driven by a heat dome — a huge area of high pressure supported by a dip in the jet stream to the west, allowing warm air to move northwards. As air sinks under high pressure, it becomes compressed and warms. Combined with strong sunshine, this leads to a steady rise in temperatures day by day. Humidity makes the heat feel even more intense.
Next week is expected to bring a return to more average temperatures, with a westerly influence bringing wind and rain, particularly in the northwest. The Met Office’s long-range forecast for June 29 to July 8 warns of periods of rain, showers and thunderstorms, though the southeast may see drier weather initially. Temperatures will remain widely above average, with a chance of very warm or hot weather returning, mainly across the south.
For now, Londoners endure another night of stifling heat, with the bus fire a stark reminder of the strain extreme weather places on infrastructure.