London’s risk from rising temperatures

This time round I have double glazing which feels like it helps keep the heat out - not sure if I’m right.

This time I’m exercising early morning and then staying in 

Always wear hat

Scale back activities - scale back shopping as too hot to walk to supermarket 

Open windows at back of house cooler and close at front. Draw curtains at front 

Drink loads water and ice pop in freezer 

Make smoothies with frozen fruit 

need action to be take for risk manage climate change 

In this heat,using public transport for elderly like myself is frustrating when my local Arnos grove underground station does not have lifts or similar when carrying shopping and also sudden closure of Betstyle Road London N11 bus stop with no explanation 

I recently looked at a questionnaire about tackling heat in London. The options were interesting — shade, more green spaces, blue spaces (water bodies), cool public areas, all good ideas.

But let’s be honest: the main source of heat and discomfort here isn’t just the lack of trees. It’s public transport. The Tube is basically a subterranean sauna, and while I understand the engineering challenges of retrofitting air conditioning underground, there’s simply no excuse for our buses to still feel like moving ovens in 2025.

Another major issue? Construction legislation. We keep building homes as if we’re in the Arctic, obsessed with “keeping the heat in.” The reality is, in London it’s rare for temperatures to drop below zero, but increasingly common for them to soar above 30°C. Every new build, especially residential, should have air conditioning as standard. Anything less is short-sighted.

This so-called public consultation from Sadiq Khan feels more like a PR exercise than a genuine plan for change. It’s the same pattern: collect feedback, issue a press release, tick the box, and move on. London doesn’t need another heatwave survey; it needs action.

Half the tube lines and buses are absolute heat traps even without 'extreme heat' so more needs to be done to negate the impact of heat especially when tubes are held between stations due to faults.  Stations really should have a refillable water point in situ all year round.

My home is awful in winter due to the cold and awful in summer due to the heat, impossible to reach any reasonable happy medium due to conservation rules in the area and landlord permissions which would be the same challenges for most Londoners.

It's challenging to change my property to make it more resilient in heat as it is in a conservation zone so many changes would not be appropriate. Thought and advice on how to make changes in a way that maintains the heritage would be good.

I'd like to see a lot more use of trees to create shading and ideally planting by refusing parking spaces not on the pavement where space for pedestrians is often already limited.

Public transport is a nightmare. Buses are unmanageable during the heatwaves and this should be one of the biggest priorities for MoL (and the tube where it doesn't have air con). This is not just an issue for passengers but staff too.

My main strategy with the heat is not to go outside and to stay indoors for most of the day. However sometimes this isn't an option and currently it is extremely challenging to navigate the city and do anything when it is hot so there is definitely a need to make the city more liveable in high heat.

I left london, rescheduled my jobs and checked into a hotel near west wittering.

We need access to solar panels so that we can afford to run aircon. 
We also need to have access to green schemes for social housing tenants.

Every scheme available is for homeowners while the people who could best benefit from cheaper electricity are denied it.

As a gardener, I refuse to work in anything above 28 degrees so higher temperatures affect my income, my contribution to the economy and my clients. 

in 2022 the heat was so high it broke panes of glass and bent window frames out of shape in my home. To cope with the heat, we created a shaded area on the flat's balcony, placed reflective sheets on the windows, and followed the advice re windows closed and open in the day. For the dog we used wet towels on its belly, as that's a good way to cool them off, and lots of showers for ourselves. it was exceedingly uncomfortable all the same, and we have since acquired an air conditioning unit, which helps a little. We avoided direct sunlight for the duration of the heatwave. 

I live in a converted victorian house. This was built for a different Britain, and lacks ventilation. While this can be retrofitted it is at significant cost, far higher than can reasonably be met by any householder or landlord, social or no. It is obvious that sponsored retrofitting of climate controlling measures (for heat and cold) and energy efficiency is required.

Outside crops that worked five years ago no longer flourish and new crops begin to thrive. We have noticed in particular that crops used to arid conditions are doing well, but these must also be able to handle intermittent flood. We can attest to grass becoming parched to the extent that it does not recover, and London's trees sacrificing branches to survive heat.  We are seeing more deaths among small birds and fledglings.

Water is essential, and it must be put to work. It makes sense to create more water features across London's parks, ensure water is available in those parks, and invest in drinking water.

However doing so would be prohibitive in cost due to water privatisation. As such  it is a matter of both common sense and national survival that water supply is nationalised as the need for it is far too great to be in the hands of any private entity. From cooling to crops to public safety, water is national security and its management is a matter of national importance. 

I'm keeping my windows closed and curtains and blinds drawn during the day while it's hottest, and open them at night before I go to sleep.

Buying an air conditioning unit was the only way we could stay cool. It's not very efficient, and requires us to put a tube out of the window. London should update its development regulations to allow for more air conditioning units to be installed in new builds. In particular, air to air heat pumps which can cool in the summer and heat in the winter. This also helps with out green energy transition

I think the modern electric buses have AC but it's completely useless because the windows are always opened letting the heat in

Can we remove the ability to open windows in all spaces that have AC?

Planting trees along streets drastically decreases the surface temperature along the streets and provides much needed shading during extreme temperatures.

They're also good for the environment too

Misting stations are of limited effect here... the UK is already a humid country, past a certain point misting only increases the heat index and makes the heat feel worse to living animals.

I urge you to consider funding more open water/wild swimming venues. East London Waterworks for example. As well as planting more trees, look at Singapore & Barcelona, how they have invested in public spaces, infrastructure for pedestrian and cyclists whilst planting trees everywhere, the temperature of the cities have dropped multiple degrees. 

More outdoor swimming spaces! There is only a handful in the whole of London, and they book out well in advance on a warm day! 

We need to be supporting our NHS more during heatwaves. I work in a tertiary hospital, and during these times our wards reach 30 degrees consistently. Despite fans for each patient, this is still extremely uncomfortable, and can frequently affect patients clinically too. We then have staff who have no option but to work in these conditions, and any office space for clinical staff is cramped without fans or aircon.

Let’s get real! Our neglect of global warming is detrimental to health & safefy. It’s inhumane to expect 30 pupils to sit in classrooms above 90 degrees with poor air quality. I have a respiratory health condition and cannot breathe when there’s no breeze.

I notice this survey does not include an option about adding A/C.on public transport. This is essential and should be a priority. Pretty much all other countries have A/C on public transport apart from the UK. We are not developing as a nation.

It's just hot weather and it's called summer. Nothing else.