Those Melting Words, In England

When

George Harrison

crooned, “Here comes the sun” nearly six decades ago, he was voicing a beloved literary trope about English summers. Sweet and mild, ripe with fruit and flower, as fleeting as it was welcome, it was the season to be sunny in a country known for grey skies.

This year’s heatwave has blasted that time-honoured reputation of an English summer to smithereens. At a sizzling 37.7 degrees on June 26 – the hottest June in British history – UK’s heatwave now matches tropical scorchers across the globe. With more heatwaves on the way, the summer of 2026 is officially more blistering than balmy.
For a country not used to a hot season, this is causing all sorts of issues. Schools are running half-day schedules.

People are jumping into any available water body they can find. Trains, emergency services and public health bodies are struggling to cope. Doctors are putting out health advisories. Clearly, unlike the lyrics of the famous Beatles song, things are not “alright” this summer.