London’s risk from rising temperatures

The biggest challenge for me is how hot my workplace is. There are no windows, no air circulation, no air conditioning so temperature inside is usually 3 to 4 degrees higher than outside. We have complained for the past 5 years to the manager and the owner, but no action has been taken. One of the biggest things that the government and mayor need to do is issue a public guidance and doctrine around what is acceptable and what is not and a route to challenge work practises to external parties. The Hearth & safety act simply does not cover the problem. We can take unpaid or sick leave, but we only get paid the statutory minimum wages. 

In addition the tfl needs to improve significantly - particularly the central, jubilee, bakerloo, victoria and piccadilly lines which always have delays and are extremely hot!

I noticed a big difference in temperature between my back garden (which has a lawn and shrubs and small trees) and the street in the front of my house (which is stone/tarmac/paving).  Households should not be allowed to concrete over more than 25% their front or rear gardens (except in exceptional circumstances, where there is a good reason for doing so).  We need more green spaces, with large trees (in my local park, Finsbury Park, the shade created by the lovely London Plane trees makes such a difference in the heat, and it's great to be able to go and sit under the trees to escape the heat).  Also, parks should be accessible to the public as parks, not music venues (this is especially important for people who don't have gardens).  The large commercial events which now take place in several parks around London during the summer deprive local people of a much valued green space.  Our Parks should be protected as green havens, which everyone can relax in and benefit from the cooling effect of trees and greenery.

My biggest bugbear is how hot all the buses are.  There are very few even of the newer buses that actually have functioning air conditioning and most seem just to blow out hot air and have windows that do not open.  They are unbearable. ( And are freezing in Winter.)  Some newer buses do not have a window at the back now, so you cannot see if a bus is arriving behind you. Really annoying as I so often have to bus hop because buses are so infrequent or we have to keep getting off due to driver change over of cessation of the bus due to not enough on the route.  I don't know how the drivers cope.   Some of the tube trains are cooler such as Circle line and Jubilee but most are baking hot.

The " Boris" buses are unusable when the temperature is high. The air con has never worked and the windows are totally inadequate. 

There are a huge number of unused ugly decaying buildings across the City, can you imagine if after a certain number of years, it was made law that these buildings were removed and turned into green spaces? 

If the City was really serious about greening it would cease building more office blocks and create green spaces instead. There are plenty of empty office spaces so why keep building more? Property developers don’t make money from trees of course and only pay lip service to greening in order to get their plans agreed. 

It is shocking that successive governments have ignored the simplest solution to zero carbon problems -  planning permission for building should only be granted if the building is green.    If this had been adopted 20 years ago the existing and future problems would have been halved.  Expecting individuals to bear the responsibility is unfair and may well cause financial hardship.   Shame on all of them!

Me and my 4 year old daughter coped ok, but getting on public transport for the school run was unbearable. Masses of obnoxious teenagers, without valid Zip passes, were causing fights and throwing water around the buses- and forcing their way through the back doors of the bus. If the mayor insists on giving 11-15 year olds free passes, how about making it term time only and between  6am and 6pm? And not on weekends?? Public transport gets overrun by badly behaved, entitled little teenagers and this makes travelling horrible for everyone else, who do actually pay. The bus drivers are vverbally abused and threatened- its inconceivabl  that TFL dont care enough to help solve this issue- using the above ssuggestion.

My road is classified as a bee friendly street, so the council no longer sprays.  This means that it’s gradually greening up with a wide variety of wild flowers and garden escapees, all helping to absorb heat as well as support wildlife.  

I am an ex key stage 1 teacher. Small children (and older, I suspect)  really struggle with these recent high temperatures. It is wasted learning time and makes managing emotions and behaviour more difficult. Perhaps there could also be some community spaces provided eg libraries, church halls etc that could be fitted with air conditioning for people to use during heat waves. Im retired and it seems the most popular place to be for my friends was supermarkets for their air conditioning! 

I'm concerned that if more people install air conditioning it will further heat up the local area meaning others suffer. We need practical guidance and easy to use products for shading windows and other smaller actions which can make a big difference. 

I find temperatures above 30 hard to cope with as I have long term health conditions. My home office becomes unusable as it gets too hot and I can't exercise. The Northern Line is dangerously hot so travel is difficult. Understandably people use the parks more but aren't necessarily educated to look after them - in hot weather there is litter everywhere and people are using places that are meant to be set aside for wildlife as there aren't sufficient areas for swimming etc to help people cope with the heat. On Hampstead Heath they've removed the water fountains and there are very few bins which doesn't help. Summer now makes me quite anxious rather than being an enjoyable experience.

Our primary schools are woefully underprepared for extreme weather. Adults get to sit in air conditioned offices, our children get to sit in boiling hot rooms with a single fan and a few windows cracked at best. What’s the point of “relaxing the uniform rules” when it’s the environment that’s not fit for purpose? Lack of air conditioning and HEPA filters are essential to keep kids  healthy. The 40 degree heat in 2022 was forecast for at least a week in advance and our school did nothing until the night before when it allowed those that could, to take their kids home at lunchtime.  Without suitable climate controls, schools will have to close during extreme heatwaves. Where’s the preparation? Where is the plan to retrofit our Victorian buildings with the necessary upgrades for a warming climate? All I see is people with their heads in the sand. 

Very difficult to keep cool in the extreme heat in spite of all measures being taken to keep cool in London area. 1930's chalet type houses retain the heat. Many front gardens have been paved over and trees removed to enable parking where front gardens once were. This needs to be discouraged although understandable why dropped kerbs are requested.

More green space needed . TFL land in this area has been replaced with unattractive blocks of flats. Who wants to live on top of a traiin line. How can residents of these blocks keep cool? Must be so noisy with windows opened. Trees could have been planted to help stop pollution from nearby road and underground.

I commute to the City of London twice a week.  I deliberately leave extra early in the mornings (I start at 9am  but I leave my house at 6.45 am) to avoid the heat, traffic jams, and overcrowding on the trains.  The No.5 bus and EL2 bus are an absolute joke - these are the new routemaster buses, but there is only air conditioning on the top deck - the lower deck just have one side of the lower desk with tiny windows at the top and there is no air that comes through these windows, so they are absolutely pointless and there is no air conditioning on the lower deck.  It must be about 10 degrees higher on the bus than it is outside.  I dread going on either of these buses, but these are the only buses that go on my route home.  I guess it was Boris Johnson who recommended these buses at the time, but they really are not fit for purpose.  I pity pensioners who have to use these buses to get their shopping.

In my area over the last five years so much green space has been built on, many of these developments are unfinished or unsold but have the effect of reducing natural resources that help us cope with the heat. In private rented, furnished accommodation there is little we can do to our property that is effective to help cope with the heat so shady green space is invaluable

I’m in a new build flat, with door-to-ceiling windows that act as a greenhouse in a sunny day, and we’re not allowed to install outside units that would allow us to have air conditioning. This is absolutely ridiculous.

London can’t cope with climate change if preserving the aesthetic of a 10 year old building is more important than the comfort of its occupants.