{"id":586483,"date":"2026-08-07T23:54:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/586483\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:54:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:54:19","slug":"im-a-disaster-responder-britains-constant-heatwaves-have-left-it-broken-bone-dry-and-in-denial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/586483\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m a disaster responder \u2013 Britain\u2019s constant heatwaves have left it broken, bone-dry and in denial"},"content":{"rendered":"

If the unbearable heat wasn\u2019t enough, leading to our hottest June day and night on record, the consecutive heatwaves<\/a> have led to extremely dry conditions<\/a>, from which fires sparked and spread across Suffolk<\/a>. A nature reserve in Dunwich Heath became a scorched wasteland<\/a>. The spate of heatwaves in the UK has led to nearly 3,000 heat-related deaths so far. And still more is to come, as temperatures<\/a> drop momentarily before they are predicted to ramp up once again in mid-August<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Britain<\/a> is melting, literally. When the temperature gauge hits 30, our roads start to melt, particularly in rural areas where less asphalt is used than on highways. Councils deploy the gritting machines as a temporary fix. <\/p>\n

Our buildings are not ready for this, and neither are we. <\/p>\n

\"ViciousVicious cycle: bikers ride alongside the scorched grass of Richmond Park, London (PA)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s become glaringly obvious how bad we are at coping with heat. Brits love a holiday. We travel for the sun. But this is not fun. One person on social media described this as not vacation heat but like standing directly in the heat that comes out of the back of a bus. The combination of extreme temperatures and high humidity that Europe is currently experiencing makes it different from the dry summer experienced by Australia. And it matters that the hottest days are getting earlier into June. <\/p>\n

After devastating floods across the UK in June 2007, I spent many years visiting and revisiting the community of Toll Bar, South Yorkshire, minister for energy security Ed Miliband\u2019s constituency. Ironically, in the days after the flood, while bungalows still sat in stagnant water, a mini-heatwave<\/a> hit. I remember so many things about that time. The shock. The smell. People\u2019s lives turfed into skips. <\/p>\n

I was with the matriarchs of a place who didn\u2019t need to be told about the effects of severe weather, but could also chart the devastation of flooding in the communities for a thousand years. I was writing my doctoral thesis about how communities recover from these events. I learned they didn\u2019t. Instead, they find ways to live alongside constant threat. <\/p>\n

One day I arrived and they were passing James Lovelock\u2019s The Revenge of Gaia around among the coffee cups. They found something strangely comforting in Lovelock\u2019s position that global warming harms were now irreversible. There was something about knowing that they were canaries in the mine, but the rest of the country would catch up soon. <\/p>\n

\"AA woman attempts to cool herself down as temperatures reach record levels (Reuters)<\/p>\n

They were well ahead of the realisation that climatic change would be something they lived with, not outran. Help wasn\u2019t coming. We screwed up on readying Britain for this chronic crisis, but that\u2019s not unusual. Covid confirmed for me a way of approaching disaster<\/a> that involved waiting until we were entirely marinated within the horrors of it before actually speaking openly on any of the necessary preparations. <\/p>\n

Climate activists like Bill McGuire have understandably posted a lot this week about how infuriating it is that so many people still don\u2019t realise how bad things are going to get. I have found peace that we cannot take everyone with us. I was asked on a radio show if I would find it hard to give support as a disaster responder to someone who was a \u201cclimate change denier\u201d. It was a bizarre question. My approach is that of any ethical doctor. It makes no difference to me and I will share my rations with anyone.<\/p>\n

\"RiskRisk of drowning warnings have been issued as the temperatures rise (PA)<\/p>\n

I remember when Lord Sugar invested in the guy with the air conditioning business on The Apprentice and there were speeches about how this was the future. I think it will be in cooling us all down where we see the most rapid innovation. When we can link it to issues of comfort, we can effect change. But as with everything, the social disparities will be stark. The rich will stay cool, while the sweltering poor bring them things. <\/p>\n

My children have never known a time when plastic bags were dispensed liberally at the checkout. They only know our hairy, dusty bags for life that live in the car boot. They don\u2019t drink with plastic straws. They take part in litter picks and wash out their cans. I haven\u2019t got the heart to tell them about my trip to Shanghai when I choked on the smog and realised it was a battle lost. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m with Lovelock here. We left it too late. And I can\u2019t stand the hypocrisy of people shaming others. I also believe that ultimately people don\u2019t really want to change too much and it’s mainly performative. <\/p>\n

But my work has also taught me that there are things that make a difference.<\/p>\n

I take my hope for what comes next in bite-sized chunks. Excess deaths related to heat are tracked by the UKHSA and Office of National Statistics and last year showed some promising signs that interventions were starting to work. <\/p>\n

People over 85 were disproportionately affected in 2024\u2019s fatality analysis. Since then, there have been public information campaigns, cooling spaces and telemedicine, meaning potential patients can stay at home. week a 14-year-old boy died in the Thames<\/a>, leading the Met\u2019s Detective Superintendent Oliver Richter to reiterate warnings about heading into open water in warmer weather. <\/p>\n

\"PandemicsPandemics were only treated like a real risk once the reality of Covid hit (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n

Colleagues, relentless emergency responders, have found their work much easier to sell this year. Once you have a few heatwaves, it is easier to make the case for improved funding for tackling wildfires (announced this month) and our \u201cheat wave planning\u201d meetings are well attended year-round. <\/p>\n

These now run alongside the ones for flooding. Emergency planners do our homework and attend international briefings on the Godzilla El Nino<\/a> that will continue to mean 2026 is extra spicy on the weather front. <\/p>\n

There are thousands of people trying to keep more of us alive but it\u2019s hard, unseen work. It is a privilege to be part of it. The work to keep Britain fed which will get harder and harder to do as Lovelock predicted, where Gaia would really make herself felt would be in the collapse of food security. In 2008, he gave us 20 more years. The UK is particularly vulnerable here, having divested ourselves so much of our food growing capacity and instead relying on imported goods.<\/p>\n

The truth we all know is that schools<\/a>, courts, hospitals, water pipes, roads and reservoirs need a wholesale programme of rebuild and future proofing but no government has the political will to make it all happen long after their term has finished. For over two decades, national public health bodies had been urging politicians to get better at having difficult conversations, but if anything an era of misinformation and then a pandemic has only made this harder.<\/p>\n

When I give talks, more and more people, particularly women, sidle up to me to share disaster prepping tips. Rice and pasta in drawers. 50 litres of water rotated and stored in a cupboard. Fans, torches, storm lamps. They are booked on a first aid course and have joined the neighbourhood page. A go bag in the car with water and a power bank. I have been heartened this week by how many people knew how to treat heat exhaustion and the swapping of sensible tips about rehydration sachets. <\/p>\n

There is agency in engaging with a reasonable worst-case scenario: that weather in all its forms will continue to be an inconsistent and furious goddess. That each year will throw new challenges at us and we will need to ready yet again. Brits have always been obsessed with the weather and are right to be. Its whims will dominate the rest of our existence.<\/p>\n

Dr Lucy Easthope is a disaster planner and author of \u2018Come What May: Life-Changing Lessons for Coping with Crisis\u2019 www.whatevernext.info<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If the unbearable heat wasn\u2019t enough, leading to our hottest June day and night on record, the consecutive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[246,61,60,82,247564],"class_list":["post-586483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-summer-weather-aug-6th-2026-pa2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}