UNITED KINGDOM: LONDONERS AND VISITORS TRY TO COOL OFF IN FOUNTAINS OF TRAFALGAR SQUARE AS TEMPERATURES APPROACH RECORD LEVELS

Record ID: 338147

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: LONDONERS AND VISITORS TRY TO COOL OFF IN FOUNTAINS OF TRAFALGAR SQUARE AS TEMPERATURES APPROACH RECORD LEVELS
  • Date: 6th August 2003
  • Summary: (W5) LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 6, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE OF TRAFALGAR SQUARE FOUNTAIN WITH PEOPLE PADDLING , AND RED BUSES IN THE BACKGROUND 0.05 2. SLV PEOPLE IN THE WATER COOLING OFF 0.10 3. PAN FROM STREET LAMP, DOWN TO WIDE OF PEOPLE GATHERED AROUND OR IN FOUNTAIN 0.18 4. SMV CHILD STANDING IN WATER BY FOU
  • Embargoed: 21st August 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City:
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVA4VE8GV6RMQ2PQ3A0NTGI5L8ZP
  • Story Text: The heatwave continues to grip Britain, with
    temperatures approaching record levels.



    Temperatures were approaching record levels in
    Britain on Wednesday (August 6), as the heatwave continued
    to grip the country.

    Londoners experienced the hottest day in the city's
    history as the temperature hit 35.4C (95.7F), beating the
    35C (95F) set in August 1990.

    The highest temperature recorded in the United Kingdom
    this year was taken at 1459BST (1359GMT) on the roof of the
    London Weather Centre in the centre of the capital.

    Forecasters, however, did not believe the all-time
    national maximum of 37.1C (98.7F) registered in August 1990
    would be reached.

    In London, crowds of people headed for the capital's
    fountains to cool off. The high temperatures were expected
    to last throughout the weekend.

    One man seemed unperturbed by the heat.

    "It's not too bad, I thought it would be a lot hotter
    than it is. They said it was going to be about 98 or 100
    but I think it's a lot cooler than that," he told Reuters
    Television.

    Another woman said, "It's nice, it feels all summery."
    And some disagreed that this was the hottest day ever
    in Britain.

    "It won't be the hottest day in history. It topped about thirty-six
    in 1990. I remember 1976 was a very bad drought year. It was
    exceedingly hot," said another resident.

    But it wasn't all sunshine and smiles across the country as the
    heatwave claimed its first lives.

    Two 17-year-old boys drowned in separate accidents on
    Tuesday and on Wednesday a six-year-old girl was in
    intensive care after she was discovered floating face down
    after she got out of her depth near the paddling area at
    Market Bosworth Water Park in Leicestershire.

    She was taken by air ambulance to the Diana, Princess
    of Wales Hospital in Birmingham, where she was described as
    "poorly but stable".

    Many countries in Europe have had above normal
    temperatures for a month now, in some cases breaking or
    approaching records, in one of the longest hot spells for
    years.

    Meteorologists say Europe's heatwave was caused by high
    pressure extending from west of the Iberian Peninsula into
    central Europe, along with a depression from North Africa into the
    peninsula.

    lh/jrc



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