Travelers in Britain were warned to stay home rather than risk a ride on rails that could buckle under record temperatures as brutal conditions swept through Europe.
Train companies offered refunds and ticket swaps, and Network Rail told passengers on Tuesday not to travel north out of London to a weather “red zone.”
A temperature of 39.1 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded at Charlwood, Surrey, according to the Met Office, which warned that temperatures would likely rise further. That would break the previous record of 38.7 degrees set on July 25, 2019.
The current heat wave has sparked deadly wildfires in Spain, Portugal and France, adding to the challenges facing Europe from political upheaval to travel chaos and surging prices. Russia’s war in Ukraine provides a grim backdrop and increases anxiety about the weather’s impact on food production.
More than 600 people have died across the region.
Increasingly frequent and intense heat waves are the result of climate change, and temperatures this extreme are set to become more common as the world continues to burn fossil fuels.
Brutal conditions have already struck India, the U.S. and western Europe this year, but pose a particular challenge to regions unaccustomed to scorching temperatures like the UK. Ireland posted its highest temperature in more than a century on Monday.
