Why We Shouldn't Laugh About The UK Heatwave

This week, records were broken in the UK when the temperature soared into the high 30's and even surpassed 40 degrees celsius in some areas for the first time ever, causing chaos for ambulance services and fire crews who battled widespread heat exhaustion and wildfires. Despite the threat to human life and property, many Aussies were scoffing at the British for not being able to handle a couple of days of temperatures that we deal with every summer, but is that really fair given their country is not designed to cope with extreme heat? The Quicky speaks to a climate expert to find out why even just a couple of days of 40+ degrees caused such devastation in Britain, and what could happen if heatwaves such as this become increasingly common in Europe. Subscribe to Mamamia GET IN TOUCH Feedback? We’re listening! Call the pod phone on 02 8999 9386 or email us at [email protected] CONTACT US Got a topic you'd like us to cover? Send us an email at [email protected] CREDITS  Host: Claire Murphy With thanks to: Dr Ben Henley - Lecturer at Wollongong University, Research Fellow at 'Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future' (SAEF) and Domain Editor at WIREs Climate Change Producer: Claire Murphy Executive Producer: Siobhán Moran-McFarlane Audio Producer: Thom Lion Subscribe to The Quicky at... https://mamamia.com.au/the-quicky/ Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Just by reading our articles or listening to our podcasts, you’re helping to fund girls in schools in some of the most disadvantaged countries in the world - through our partnership with Room to Read. We’re currently funding 300 girls in school every day and our aim is to get to 1,000. Find out more about Mamamia at mamamia.com.auvBecome a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.