London’s risk from rising temperatures

I think the biggest things I have noticed are needing more shade, from trees or other sources, especially at bus stops. That, and that flats are just not designed to deal with heat, so there either needs to be A/C or some form of better insulation/shutters/ventilation. Otherwise if you have a room where the sun comes directly in during the day it just becomes a sauna. 

Green belt: The mayor mentions green space in London but then proposes to build homes on the brown and green belt. 

Office temperature: need a legal maximum and minimum temperature in offices. For people working outdoors, consider working flexibly, early morning or late evening 

Construction: bricks are one of the worst for carbon emissions and contribute to climate change. Alternative recycled materials to be used by house builders or sustainable development before planning granted.

schools: dress codes relaxed in hot weather for teachers and students, eg no jackets. Or school closures for temperature over 30c

More cool spaces and water fountains open (never seen one in the local area in London)

Transport: air con in underground or some cooling system. Appreciate that is not possible on certain lines but please do not stop in the tunnels between stations when the train is full during a 30C heatwave.

Free or subsidised rooftop solar installation.
 

I note that a really good measure would be to air condition the tube but this was not an option on the list.

So this feels to me like another leading survey from the Mayor. I see this as yet another attempt to justify extra expenditure on bad policies like bike lanes, justified as green.

During 2022 heatwave and all heatwaves, I make an effort to go to the office where I have air con. I also use Citymapper app to plan my tube journey as it gives you options for routes with air con all the way. At night I filled hot water bottles with cold water, and wet my hair before bed. In future I am thinking of buying an air con unit. Public information campaigns helped- I now know that parks and green spaces are cooler so I go to these places when I’m feeling hot at home. The map showing cooler parts of London also is good. Water refill points are also great. 

The priority for London should be air con across all public transport, including real trains. Libraries should also all have air con so that there are free places to go to escape the heat when it gets too much.  After that, we need more access to outdoor water to bathe in. More lidos, or even just small paddling ponds. 
More should be done to design housing to keep cooler- better insulation and more buildings painted lighter colours. Flats are unbearable and the only solution right now is to buy air con.

It always feels like workplaces are not pressured enough to deal with heat well. As it's where most of us spend most of our time, shouldn't there be limits on temperature for working? It makes the days intolerable in high summer and productivity is affected but they never seem to do anything apart from provide fans which don't help much! 

We need: Trees, shade, water points, and  places where you can get wet to cool down are all important. Aircon on public transport. Better building design and retro fitting to deal with overheated buildings.  Why do we have  so much glass - cold in winter and hot in summer?

I use a medical ice pack to help to get cool enough to sleep 

Coming from France, the main thing I miss in London/my flat is having external blinds/shutters which would prevent the sun rays from hitting the window glass. Internal blinds' efficiency does not compare to external blinds. 

Discussing with colleagues, there is also a need for better education, knowing when to close blinds and window and when to open them.

New development design guide should prioritise cross ventilation and heat mitigation where it conflicts with other requirements (eg daylight/sunlight).

In the street/outside; green and blue infrastructure are key.

AC should only be allowed for communal use (office, schools, hospitals etc).  

I was walking around Woolwich alongside the Thames the other day on a very hot day but we had to give up because of lack of shade.  We should aim for all public spaces / walkways to have enough trees, which would not only give shade but help absorb CO2

I have a short commute on a modern bus (242 route) but the air conditioning doesn't exist or can't cope.  I understand some tube routes can't be cooled by AC because the heat can't be vented for the tunnel, but surely we should aim for it on new buses, like we do on new trains.

Is it possible for new build houses to include aircon but powered by solar panels rather than contributing to greehouse gases?

While the population suffers the consequences of extreme heat, scientists are in the lab spending taxpayers' money developing gadgets to control the time.

China has already raised the second atomic sun, and we here discussing what to do about the high temperatures, let's all watch the movie The Truman Show and we will remember that all of this is nothing more than crowd control and a poor investment of public money.

What does China have to do with London? Action and reaction, simple basic physics.

And if the authorities want and when they want, the temperatures will change in favor of the population and they will stop blaming the population.

Let's open our minds.

I don't mean to be relentlessly negative but the issue here is housing, housing, housing. London's homes are not suitable for extreme heat. I think we are blocked from making progress here by the scourge of amateur landlords (who don't have the interest or economies of scale to make improvements) and by the leasehold system (who is responsible for the roof insulation in our subdivided terrace? Who can authorise installation of a heat pump?).

We need more trees and water coolers.  Public transport needs air con

A lot of purpose-built flats don't allow leaseholders to make alterations to their properties that would help residents cope with the heat (e.g. fixed AC units, awnings, external shutters).

These flats are also often poorly designed to deal with extreme heat (for example floor to celing windows with no heat rejection features that create a greenhouse effect when in direct sunlight). They will soon become unlivable in the summer if climate change continues to bring us hotter summers.

The Heat Risk Delivery Plan should require the property management companies of these types of flats to future-proof their existing properties for extreme heat.

Also planting more trees along the roads to provide a canopy is a win-win (good for the environment, makes an area look nicer compared to just drab grey streets and buildings and will provide shade from heat)

I am really surprised that the point around air conditioning isn’t being addressed. There is going to be more demand for AC going forward. Combined with the electrification of heating, London should be leading the conversation on installing air-to-air heatpumps across cities (over 80% of heat pumps installed in Norway are air-to-air, not air-to-water), which can tackle both heating and cooling needs. Planning support, financial subsidies, awareness campaigns… This feels like such a timely and big opportunity. 

London and other cities have contributed to the crisis by constructing far too many tall towers - most of which are badly designed and constructed - without considering the consequences. As the US has discovered tall buildings lock in heat by blocking winds from cooling areas down. Where I live it has just become a massive concrete jungle and there is a noticeable increase in temperature because of it. None of the properties even have any air conditioning. It must be hell for those on the upper floors.

It has been shown too that super tall towers represent seventy per cent of carbon emissions. Some cities in the US have started to create gardens in the sky which offers natural cooling and improved air quality. However, I cannot see any of the developers or councils profiting from the never-ending building game considering such innovation, let alone the long-term implications of their plans. 

Sooner or later the water and sewage systems in London will not be able to cope with the extra numbers and then we really will have a crisis. 

Say NO to more development. 

The most simple and widely-used cooling methods known as air conditioners and fans are somehow not included in the survey. They are invaluable in most tropical countries that can afford them. People overheating outside can just walk into a business to cooldown and maybe spend some money there, too. I know you are big on environmental protection but letting people suffer over that just isn't it. There should be financial incentives for public spaces and homes to install and use A/Cs to get them up-and-running before the summers get unbearable.