The 42°C US desert city that could help London prepare for extreme heat
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The Mayor of London has said the capital is not equipped to deal with this heat, to absolutely no one’s surprise.
Londoners have been sweltering on the Central Line, baking in their tower block flats, and sheltering in any cafe they can find as a rare red weather warning for extreme heat is issued.
And it is not just a matter of feeling overheated. Homes have been destroyed during flash flooding following heavy thunderstorms on Tuesday, and 300 people were left trapped on a stranded train as Transport for London buckles under the heat.
Sadiq Khan has said London can’t keep suffering under every heatwave as global warming is making sure 40C summers, like the infamous one seen in 2022, become ‘the new normal’.
And the answer lies with London’s first-ever heat plan, inspired by our friends across the pond in some of the US’s hottest cities.
The Mayor told Metro: ‘Phoenix, for example, is a city in the USA that’s one of the hottest cities in the world. One of things they do is when it comes their roofs, they paint them a certain colour.
‘Los Angeles has issues with water shortages we are looking at too. They, and places like Paris and Milan, are decades ahead of us so we’re learning from them, from the design of our buildings to the types of trees we are planting.
The London Fire Commissioner, Jonathan Smith, agreed. He has spoken to the Los Angeles Fire Department on how best to spot where wildfires are most likely to appear.
He told Metro: ‘They shared a lot of lessons on using AI and algorithms to predict where the fires will occur. I think there are real lessons from the USA, and Europe and Australia.’
Sir Sadiq unveiled the heat plan today, titled ‘Heat ready London’, which revealed more than 1,300 schools, 60 hospitals and 350 care homes are at risk of overheating.