Unaccustomed as the British are to such hot weather, the heatwave will undoubtedly bring with it an unwelcome increase in sunstroke and heat exhaustion. It is only to be expected.
It is an unprecedented phenomenon in modern times (no doubt when dinosaurs roamed Surrey it was situation normal), and there’s a natural tendency to get out and enjoy it while it lasts. Before very much longer, of course, the inhabitants of the UK will be shivering in their poorly insulated Victorian terraces and inter-war mock Tudor semis in fear of the gas bill.
Like so many going lobster red in the sun, the heat spike doesn’t seem to have concerned the prime minister. A man with little to lose except his reputation, he has placed pleasure before duty, and skipped the Cobra meeting called to coordinate the response to the crisis – just as he did in the early stages of the pandemic.
