About this episode

The episode discusses the extreme heat in the UK and its potential links to climate phenomena like El Niño.

Met Office forecasters have issued a rare red weather warning for England, with temperatures potentially reaching 40C (104F) in some places. Europe is also dealing with a debilitating heatwave, with schools closed, trains cancelled and France even restricting the consumption of alcohol outdoors to take pressure off the emergency services. The high temperatures coincide with the coming El Niño, which some scientists have nicknamed Godzilla for its predicted strength. To find out whether the two are linked, Ian Sample hears from our Europe climate correspondent, Ajit Niranjan. He explains why it’s so hot, why we could be in for even worse and how we can keep as cool as possible. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

People in this episode

Host: Ian Sample

Guest: Ajit Niranjan

Topics covered

• extreme heat
• climate change
• El Niño
• weather warning
• heatwave
• public health

Keywords

• 40C
• heatwave
• climate
• weather warning
• El Niño
• public health
• Met Office

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Met Office

Places: England, Europe, France

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