A London Climate Action Week event designed to explore how to govern extreme heat has been cancelled – because of extreme heat. The conference, titled ‘Extreme Heat: Improving Governance and Strengthening Action Around the World’, was due to take place on Wednesday at the Shaw Library at the London School of Economics, but organisers pulled the plug after the Met Office issued a red extreme heat warning covering London from 9am Wednesday to 9pm Thursday.
The Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance, which was hosting the event alongside LSE’s Grantham Research Institute, announced the cancellation on social media on Tuesday. “Our London Climate Action Week event on extreme heat has been cancelled… due to extreme heat,” the post read. “The event venue, like most buildings in London, does not have any cooling mechanisms in place, and we cannot risk the wellbeing of speakers or guests by subjecting everyone to very unpleasant indoor conditions in addition to hot journeys to the venue.”
“A climate event on extreme heat was cancelled due to extreme heat as the Met Office issued a rare red warning.”
The red warning – only the second ever issued by the Met Office – means a risk to life even for healthy people. Temperatures are forecast to exceed 37C and could reach 40C in some areas, which would shatter the June record of 35.6C set in Hampshire in 1976. Dr Agostinho Sousa, head of extreme events and health protection at the UK Health Security Agency, warned: “A red heat health alert indicates a risk to life for even the healthy population, but simple actions like staying hydrated, avoiding the sun during the hottest part of the day, and keeping your home cool can make a big difference.”
The heat has already caused disruption. Hundreds of schools announced full or partial closures over the next few days, and Britain’s biggest train operator, Greater Thameslink Railway, told passengers only to travel if absolutely necessary on Wednesday and Thursday, with temperatures expected to reach 36C. Nick Mabey, CEO of climate campaign think tank E3G and founder of London Climate Action Week, told Politico: “We are already seeing events being cancelled as much of London’s building stock cannot function. This is a dramatic demonstration of the reality of climate change and how it threatens our economy, way of life and cultural heritage.”
Professor Fredi Otto, professor of climate science at Imperial College London, said heatwaves will occur more often and with even higher temperatures “as long as emissions continue”. She added: “Our homes, infrastructure, and economy are not built to cope with these conditions. The UK has been built for a climate that just doesn’t exist.” UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, speaking at a London Climate Action Week event on Tuesday, said the extreme weather “impels us to act.” He recalled: “When I was a child, it wasn't 35C in London in June.”
Friday will bring some relief – temperatures are forecast to drop to the high 20s Celsius over the weekend, with cooler air from the west. But as Otto warned, the kind of heat that forced the cancellation of a climate event is a sign of what’s to come.