Relentless heat bakes much of US, England for another day
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(AP) — Almost 100 million Americans are facing a dangerous heat wave, with the South and Plains states some of the hottest parts of the country right now.
Meanwhile, a heat wave is building in the coastal mid-Atlantic and southern New England regions, but temperatures will pale in comparison to those in the southern Plains. In Oklahoma and Texas, people were already seeing triple-digit temperatures early Wednesday morning. Oklahoma City reported that it hit 110 degrees Tuesday, while Dallas broke its 108-degree all-time record, with temperatures going up to 109.
The Northeast won’t see quite that extreme heat, although it will still see significant highs, with 95-degree days that feel like 102 because of the heat index.
It’s not just the U.S. dealing with scorching temperatures. The United Kingdom is breaking records, and Europe is reporting more than 1,000 heat-related deaths in Spain and Portugal, per Axios.
For the first time, temperatures in the United Kingdom went above 104 degrees Fahrenheit, the UK Met Office reported Tuesday. Before that, the highest temperature recorded in Britain was 101.7 F in 2019. In total, 30 locations in the UK have broken heat-related records.
Met Office chief scientist Stephen Belcher said such temperatures in Britain were “virtually impossible” without human-driven climate change. He warned that, “We could see temperatures like this every three years” without serious action on carbon emissions.
The sweltering weather has disrupted everyday life for many in Britain, as scores of homes, small businesses and public buildings don’t have air conditioning.
The intense heat since Monday has damaged the runway at London’s Luton airport, forcing it to shut for several hours, and warped a main road in eastern England, leaving it looking like a “skatepark,” police said. Major train stations were shut or near-empty Tuesday, as trains were canceled or ran at low speeds out of concern rails could buckle.
Firefighters remained on alert Wednesday in Britain, after the London Fire Brigade had its busiest day since World War II on Tuesday. Firefighters received more than 2,600 calls and at one point were fighting 12 fires simultaneously, Mayor Sadiq Khan said.
Khan said the fire danger was high because hot, dry weather has parched grassland around London.
The scene of a blaze is in the village of Wennington, east London, Tuesday, July 19, 2022. The typically temperate nation of England is the latest to be walloped by unusually hot, dry weather that has triggered wildfires from Portugal to the Balkans and led to hundreds of heat-related deaths. (Yui Mok/PA via AP) 
A swimmer in water in the Canary Wharf docklands in east London, Tuesday July 19, 2022. Britain shattered its record for highest temperature ever registered amid a heat wave that has seized swaths of Europe. The national weather forecaster predicted it would get hotter still Tuesday in a country ill prepared for such extremes. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP) 
Roberto Delaney places a bag of ice inside a cooler as he tries to stay cool inside his tent at a homeless encampment Tuesday, July 19, 2022, in Phoenix. Heat associated deaths in Arizona’s largest county appear headed for a record this year with 17 such fatalities reported through the first week of July and another 126 under investigation as a growing number of homeless people live outside as temperatures remain well into the triple digits. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) 
Members of the Australian cabaret & circus troupe Briefs cool down in a fountain on the Southbank in London, Tuesday, July 19, 2022. Britain shattered its record for highest temperature ever registered Tuesday, with a provisional reading of 39.1 degrees Celsius (102.4 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the country’s weather office — and the heat was only expected to rise. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) 
An ice cream van parked on the banks of Loch Lomond, in the village of Luss in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, Tuesday, July 19, 2022. Britain shattered its record for highest temperature ever registered amid a heat wave that has seized swaths of Europe. The national weather forecaster predicted it would get hotter still Tuesday in a country ill prepared for such extremes. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP) 
The scene of a blaze in the village of Wennington, east London, Tuesday, July 19, 2022. The typically temperate nation of England is the latest to be walloped by unusually hot, dry weather that has triggered wildfires from Portugal to the Balkans and led to hundreds of heat-related deaths. (Yui Mok/PA via AP) 
Willie Johnson, an employee at the Justa Center, sweeps the outdoor patio as people try to keep cool at the resource center catering to the older homeless population, Tuesday, July 19, 2022, in Phoenix. Heat associated deaths in Arizona’s largest county appear headed for a record this year with 17 such fatalities reported through the first week of July and another 126 under investigation as a growing number of homeless people live outside as temperatures remain well into the triple digits. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) 
Ron Shaw tries to keep cool in the shade at the Justa Center, a resource center catering to the older homeless population, Tuesday, July 19, 2022, in Phoenix. Heat associated deaths in Arizona’s largest county appear headed for a record this year with 17 such fatalities reported through the first week of July and another 126 under investigation as a growing number of homeless people live outside as temperatures remain well into the triple digits. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
“Once it catches fire it spreads incredibly fast, like wildfires like you see in movies or in fires in California or in parts of France…,” Khan told the BBC. “I’ve just spoken to the fire commissioner. He’s still concerned about the ground being dry and the speed of fire spreading.”
