Britain recorded the highest temperature on Tuesday and braced for the warmest day, speculated to be 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
The Met Office has predicted the temperature to rise by up to 41 degrees Celsius in a few parts of England, which would make the country hotter than the Maldives and Jamaica.
Experts have warned the country to prepare for more intense summers in the future, as well as the need to adapt homes for deadly summers. The transport routes across England and Wales are also said to be affected by the heatwave, according to National Rail, and people have also been advised to travel only if “absolutely necessary.”
Network Rail stated, “There will be delays, cancellations, and last-minute changes to train services due to the unprecedented record heat on those days.”
The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has stated that resolving rail issues during heatwaves will take decades. He also mentioned that it might take years to upgrade the rail infrastructure to be more resilient.
He said, “There’s a long process of replacing it and upgrading it to withstand temperatures that are either very hot or sometimes much colder than we’ve been used to, and these are the impacts of global warming.”
There have also been warnings about hospital overcrowding as a result of the extreme temperature rise, and there are concerns that ambulance services will receive more calls as the heat peaks on Tuesday afternoon.