Good evening,
Yesterday was the hottest day of the year.
32C at RHS Wisley in Surrey.
These temperatures are air temperatures, in other words they are measured in the shade. Step out into the sun & it will be appreciably hotter. As much as 10 degrees hotter in fact. So we should spare a thought for Andy Murray et al who'll be playing in really punishing heat. Yesterday at Wimbledon over 200 people were treated for heat related health issues & today the Met Office has raised the Heat Health Watch Alert to level 3.
Yesterday evening I was in Trafalgar Square in the blazing sun with hundreds of opera fans for La Traviata being streamed from the Royal Opera House onto giant screens. Unlike every other member of the audience I was wearing a suit & tie & can honestly say it's the hottest I've ever been in my life in this country. My bottle of cooling water - a must in these conditions - was at blood temperature within moments but I was past caring as I drank it in 3 hasty gulps.
Today it's even hotter & I'm off to the O2. Still wearing a suit & clutching another bottle of warm water. My challenge will not be to talk sense & keep to time but rather to talk at all & keep upright! Wish me luck.
See you later,
Robin.
