Near-record breaking heatwave washes over London

A heatwave swept through London, the capital of the United Kingdom, on Thursday with the second hottest day on record for the city. The heatwave, coming from the Mediterranean, kicked into full gear on Tuesday as temperatures climbed to about 37.7 degrees Celsius in London and the surrounding areas during the afternoon. It was a new July temperature record for the entire United Kingdom and the second highest historically after the 38.5 degree Celsius temperature set in Faversham, England on August 10, 2003. Many commuters had to travel on sweltering tube lines equipped with no air-conditioning. The authorities said the underground tube lines won't get air conditioning until 2030.

London Resident, Owen said "In this country I haven't experienced it this hot. The tube was very hot. I think there's no air-conditioning on there. It wasn't so crowded, I was lucky today, but it was very hot. I have air-conditioning in my bedroom. Yeah, I'm lucky to have it."

London Resident, Mark said "Yeah, it's very hot. I mean at the end of the day, what we having to do at night time is to keep the fans on full. It's a little bit noisy but it keeps the air nice and cool in the room, so we can get some sleep. Yeah, we tried the other thing sometimes, we put the pillowcases in the freezer and make them nice and cool to sleep to get a restful night sleep to prepare you for these hot days."

The heatwave in the country is expected to last for about three months until October, according to local weather forecasts.