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Telegraph
5 hours ago
- Climate
- Telegraph
Are London commuters treated worse than cattle in hot weather? I took the Tube to find out
Whether you're commuting to work or simply travelling around London, on even a relatively mild summer's day it's practically a guarantee that you'll arrive at your destination drenched in sweat. The hottest temperature ever recorded on London's Tube is a matter of some debate. During the 2006 heatwave, unsubstantiated reports of 47C made headlines. During the 2022 heatwave, Transport for London (TfL) advised customers to only travel if absolutely necessary, and reporters recorded temperatures over 40C on the Tube. According to TfL's own stats, the highest temperature recorded in 2024 was a comparatively cool 31.1C on the Victoria line in August. Yet, for context, regulations prohibit the moving of farm animals if temperatures exceed 30C. Truly, today's commuters are treated worse than cattle. But just how bad can it get? With the mercury already at 26C outside, and armed with a Tommee Tippee baby room thermometer, I jumped on the Tube just after the morning rush hour in central London to find out. Which is the hottest Tube line? Starting at Tottenham Court Road at 9.30am, I hopped straight on the Central line to Oxford Circus. It is infamous amongst Londoners for being the stickiest of all the Underground's lines, and according to TfL's data in 2024 it was in fact only the second hottest (behind the Victoria line), with stations reaching a peak of 30.6C. On the train, my thermometer beat this comfortably. Central line: 31.7C From Oxford Circus, I raced up to Warren Street on the TfL's 'official' hottest route: the Victoria line. It's worth emphasising that TfL only records temperatures at stations, rather than the trains themselves, with highs of 31.1C recorded. My on-train reading was much warmer. Victoria line: 33.6C The Northern line is considered one of the Underground's 'Deep' lines (Hampstead lies 58.5m below ground level) so consequently ventilation isn't always great. My journey avoided plumbing those depths while spiriting me from Warren Street back to Tottenham Court Road, but it was still hot, hot, hot. Northern line: 32.4C From the baking to the merely simmering, the journey from Tottenham Court Road to Bond Street via London's newest stretch of underground railway, the Elizabeth line, really shows the difference that air conditioning can make. Elizabeth line: 25.8C By the time I boarded the Jubilee line from Bond Street to Westminster I was starting to get used to the heat. Jubilee line trains are some of the smallest physically so there is very little room for ventilation or air conditioning units to be installed. Jubilee line: 31.3C The modern 'walk-through' District and Circle lines, like the Elizabeth line, are blessed with air conditioning. However, as they are only partially overground, they suffer from 'solar gain' where the trains and tracks heat up due to the sun when it's hot outside. On my journey from Westminster to Embankment, I could still feel the heat. District line: 30.4C Bakerloo line trains date back to 1972 and are therefore the oldest rolling stock still in active service on any railway line in Britain. I feared temperatures would be excessive, especially when I saw the swathe of newspapers placed over the ventilation within my carriage, but it turned out the Bakerloo was relatively cool. Bakerloo line: 30.9C With new air-conditioned trains coming into service on the Piccadilly line from the end of 2025, it should rapidly cool down in the coming years. Just as well, as my journey from Piccadilly Circus to Green Park saw me recording the hottest temperatures on my Tube odyssey. Piccadilly line: 34.2C The average temperature of my morning's travel was 31.3C, which, given that I was travelling before midday, is alarmingly hot. It's certainly warm enough for TfL to activate its hot weather plan: warnings that passengers should carry a bottle of water at all times could be heard frequently on my journey. Why does the Tube get so hot? A report by Rail Engineering in 2007 found that the vast majority of the heat is caused by the friction of the trains braking on the tracks. During the 2022 heatwave, trains were ordered to run more slowly to mitigate the release of braking heat. Once the underground gets hot, it stays hot. The clay into which the underground tunnels were dug acts as a heat sink, absorbing around 80 per cent of the heat generated. Scientists have estimated that when the tunnels were first dug, that clay would have been about 14C, and it is now 19-26C. Ventilation systems on the older and deeper lines such as the Piccadilly and Bakerloo were not designed to cope with the levels of heat produced by modern trains, so only around 10 per cent of heat is vented out of the network. The size of the tunnels on the London Underground are the second smallest of any underground railways in the world (only the Glasgow Subway has smaller tunnels) making it difficult and expensive to fit extra ventilation and air conditioning systems into them. What is TfL doing to cool down the Tube? There are a variety of schemes underway to help reduce temperatures underground, from air cooling units to massive chillers at some stations. Groundwater beneath Victoria station has been used for cooling; Green Park features an underground aquifer which helps cool it. Ventilation capacity and new fans are also being installed. Some Tube trains – including the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Elizabeth line – now feature air-conditioning within their carriages. The Piccadilly line will join this list when its new trains enter service from the end of 2025. The Bakerloo, Waterloo and City, and Central lines will be next in line, though no firm timeline has been announced. A TfL spokesperson told The Telegraph that despite 2019 reports of new air-conditioned trains being unveiled by 2030, funding was never secured and it was unlikely the trains would be air conditioned within the next 20 years, with Bakerloo line trains being given priority before then. Despite the Victoria line being the hottest on the underground last year (with temperatures averaging 30C between June and October) there are no plans to upgrade trains on the Victoria, Northern or Jubilee lines. How to stay safe when travelling in hot weather Always carry water to avoid dehydration. During hot weather, you can lose 1.5 to 2 litres of water an hour through sweat. 'If you don't replace these fluids, your blood thickens and your heart has to work harder to maintain your blood pressure and oxygen levels,' warns Dileep Lobo, a professor of gastrointestinal surgery at University of Nottingham, who researches fluid and electrolyte balance. According to nutritional therapist Madeleine Shaw, it could also be worth adding an electrolyte sachet to your water before you travel: 'This is a great way to start the day and really important on hot sweaty days,' she says. TfL regularly advices passengers to get off the train if they feel dizzy or unwell, as it is easier for paramedics to reach people on platforms than on the trains themselves. Carl Eddleston, TfL's Director of Streets & Network Operations, said: 'With continuous hot weather forecast over the coming days, we are encouraging customers to carry water with them when they travel. 'We have a comprehensive hot weather plan in place to protect the network's infrastructure with resources on standby to help respond to the impact and to keep services running. 'Please look out for each other while travelling. For the latest information on how TfL services are operating, customers should use TfL's real-time travel tools, including status updates, Journey Planner and TfL Go.'
The Age
21 hours ago
- Climate
- The Age
The Great British Heatwave has officially arrived – and this is just the beginning
London: The Great British Heatwave has officially arrived, and it's not so much a summer as it is a state of national disbelief. With an amber heat-health alert in place until Monday and thermometers nudging 34 degrees, the country famous for queuing in drizzle is now lining up in 'flip-flops' for ice-cream, often shirtless, and sometimes with questionable sun hats. Across the country, people are streaming to beaches, stripping off in parks, and pretending not to wilt on the Tube, while declaring loudly, 'It's not the heat, it's the humidity'. The UK Health Security Agency activated the five-day amber alert from Thursday night AEST, warning of a potential 'rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions'. Health and social care services are bracing for 'significant impacts', including increased demand for power and heat-related disruptions to workforce productivity. Welcome to the new British summer – like the old one, but now with ultraviolet radiation warnings and 'tropical nights', where the temperature might not fall below 20 degrees. The Met Office, the UK's weather bureau, has already recorded 30.1 degrees in London's St James's Park – the hottest day of the year so far. By Saturday, forecasters say the mercury could match or exceed the June record of 35.6, set in 1976. In other words: 'This is not normal.' With the heat rising and tempers fraying, office workers are abandoning commutes for conservatories. One wag summed it up: 'Working from the garden today.'
Sydney Morning Herald
21 hours ago
- Climate
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Great British Heatwave has officially arrived – and this is just the beginning
London: The Great British Heatwave has officially arrived, and it's not so much a summer as it is a state of national disbelief. With an amber heat-health alert in place until Monday and thermometers nudging 34 degrees, the country famous for queuing in drizzle is now lining up in 'flip-flops' for ice-cream, often shirtless, and sometimes with questionable sun hats. Across the country, people are streaming to beaches, stripping off in parks, and pretending not to wilt on the Tube, while declaring loudly, 'It's not the heat, it's the humidity'. The UK Health Security Agency activated the five-day amber alert from Thursday night AEST, warning of a potential 'rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions'. Health and social care services are bracing for 'significant impacts', including increased demand for power and heat-related disruptions to workforce productivity. Welcome to the new British summer – like the old one, but now with ultraviolet radiation warnings and 'tropical nights', where the temperature might not fall below 20 degrees. The Met Office, the UK's weather bureau, has already recorded 30.1 degrees in London's St James's Park – the hottest day of the year so far. By Saturday, forecasters say the mercury could match or exceed the June record of 35.6, set in 1976. In other words: 'This is not normal.' With the heat rising and tempers fraying, office workers are abandoning commutes for conservatories. One wag summed it up: 'Working from the garden today.'
Graziadaily
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Graziadaily
It's Official, These Are The Coolest Sneakers To Sport This Summer
If you're looking for a new pair of trainers, good luck to you. Seriously, there's so much choice and so many 'trending' sneakers that it will probably take you until Christmas, or maybe just Halloween, to find the right pair and, by then, it will probably have gone off the boil and you'll be right back to square one. Happily, however, there's a runner that not only has cult status thanks to a film made in 2003, but is from the kind of everywhere-but-somehow-under-the-radar brand that people will know but they might not know . You know? Michelle Li wearing Onitsuka Tiger ©@himichelleli It could only be Onitsuka Tiger. The Japanese sneaker brand shot to fame in the early '00s when a specific trainer in a very specific shade appeared in Kill Bill: Volume 1 (although the label was founded in 1949). The Mexico 66 in bright yellow with black stripes has become as synonymous with 'the Bride', Uma Thurman's character, as her sword - and it's this version that you've probably been seeing everywhere, from underneath pub-garden benches to the Tube. Amaka Hamelijnck wearing Onitsuka Tiger ©@ Michelle Li, the stylist and writer based in New York, paired hers with a white tee, baggy shorts and a translucent and pleasingly turquoise mac last summer, adding chunky socks to give the sleek trainer some bulk. Amaka Hamelijnck, influencer and podcaster, styled her sunflower trainers with a butter yellow co-ord, a baseball cap and a leather jacket, which pretty much seems like the perfect outfit formula right now (the leather might be overkill in this weather - and you know and we never get to say that!). Hailey Bieber wearing Onitsuka Tiger ©@haileybieber Of course, yellow is just the first and most recognisable frontier of the Mexico 66. You've also got silver, which is another one you'll start noticing in the wild once you've clocked it, as well as black, white and a host of other neutrals with subtly contrasting stripes (Hailey Bieber repped the black-and-white version on a recent holiday). So if you like a trainer that feels light on the foot and teams with everything from baggy trousers to knee-length shorts, bubble-hemmed skirts, and minidresses (you heard me), what are you waiting for? 1. Mexico 66 Birch/Peacoat Sneakers 2. Mexico 66 Beige Grass Green Sneakers 3. Mexico 66 Black/White Sneakers 4. Mexico 66 SD Cream Peacoat Sneakers 5. Mexico 66 Kill Bill 2023 Sneakers 6. Mexico 66 Silver Off-White Sneakers 7. Mexico 66 Triple Black Sneakers 8. Mexico 66 SD Low-Top Sneakers Natalie Hammond is senior fashion news editor at Grazia. She loves winter, hates summer and can often be found writing about the weather (and what on earth to wear).
Metro
a day ago
- Metro
Fare dodger caught red handed after evading £1,650 in tickets
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A prolific fare dodger was caught red-handed after racking up a £1,650 bill on the Elizabeth line. The man had avoided paying for almost 250 journeys by using a trick known as short-faring over eight months. He had been using his Oyster Card to travel from Harold Wood or Romford to Stratford in east London, but he had only bought the fare in Zones 2 to 3, instead of the full fare from Zone 6 to 2. A monthly Travelcard between Zones 2 to 3 costs £128.7, while a Zones 2 to 6 pass sets you back by £214.7. Thinking he had gamed the system, the unassuming passenger travelled regularly between the zones by shortening his fare, but the detection system picked up his journeys. The TfL investigators set up a sting operation at 5.30am to catch the man on his morning commute to Stratford from Harold Wood. The heated encounter is featured in an upcoming episode of the Channel 5 series Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law, which airs on Monday. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video His fare dodging had created a 35-page dossier of evidence for the investigators Rich and Greg to trawl through to understand his movements – and to set up the best time to catch him in action. He had avoided paying £1,651 worth of Tube tickets over around 245 journeys. Irregular payments and travel patterns can be picked up by the TfL's Irregular Travel Analysis Platform (ITAP), which also detects short-faring. It combs through ticketing and journey data, passengers' information, CCTV and travel patterns to spot fare evaders racking up the biggest bills. The transport authority spent almost £22 million on a fare dodging crackdown last year. Around 3.4% of passengers avoided paying for travel between April and December last year. TfL recovered £400,000 through the courts after the prosecution of 360 worst evaders. Dressed in normal clothing to stay undercover, the pair waited for the man to walk into their arms. When asking for a ticket check on his Oyster card, the man says he didn't have one. 'You do, so what did you use to come here,' the investigator asks. The man continues to insist he has used a bank card. While he agrees to provide his name and address, but he refuses to show his Oyster card, saying he has lost it. More Trending He eventually hands over the Oyster card after being taken to a back room for questioning when the investigators said they will call the police if he continues to be 'obstructive.' After the chat, he continued his journey while the case will be passed onto the TfL prosecution team. Another short-farer was caught at Waterloo station previously, who evaded paying £20,000 on his regular commute from Surrey to central London. The next episode of Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law is on Channel 5 airs at 9pm on Monday, June 23 on TV and on the streaming platform. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Man 'carrying a gun' at Elm Park Underground station arrested during rush hour MORE: Passengers stuck on trains and platforms in sweltering heat after fire alarm MORE: Dartford Crossing charge will go up for drivers – here's how much it rises
