Transcript AI generated from YouTube
It's becoming more and more difficult to
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live in the UK during the summer season.
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[Music]
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For many in the UK, it has been a long,
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hot summer, extending right back into
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spring. In fact, spring 2025 was the
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warmest ever recorded. Wildfires had
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already swept across Scotland, Northern
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Ireland, and Northern England, a sign of
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just how dry Britain had become.
So when
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summer started for good, the weather was
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already taking its toll.
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They say it's best to make hay while the
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sun shines, but sometimes there can be
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too much after one of the driest springs
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on record. Farmers are feeling the heat
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at the moment because of the drought.
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We're seeing uh lower levels of grass
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growth. Crops are under severe stress.
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We've got animals that are feeling heat
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stress. So doesn't really matter where
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you are in the UK. Doesn't matter what
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farming you're doing, you're probably
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experiencing some sort of trauma to your
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business as a result of this really
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volatile weather. The heat wave is
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expected to peak tomorrow and with
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temperatures set to reach the mid30s in
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England, an Amber Health alert has been
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issued with warnings of a potential rise
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in deaths among the very elderly and
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those with health conditions. For
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beachgoers at Barry Island today, there
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were fewer concerns, just making the
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most of the sun, sea, and 99s. Honestly,
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it's been gorgeous these last few days.
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We've been like going to like every
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beach we can. Feel like I'm on a little
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holiday away from uni. We finished exams
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and everything now.
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Nice to see people happy, smiling with
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what's going on around the world. I
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mean, we don't get this often. So, for
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27° like, let's just get to the beach.
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Why are we hanging around at home?
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The following day was the longest day of
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the year. And from daybreak, the sun
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barely stopped shining.
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The sun rising on the longest day of the
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year. and the hottest day so far.
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Cheers.
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Other sun worshippers flocked to the
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coast.
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Around 4,000 were expected to be here on
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the beach in broad stairs alone. And
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you're not put off by the heat health
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warnings today. It is actually like
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being on holiday at the moment. It is
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that hot.
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When the temperatures get too hot, we
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will be going inside. Go to a little pub
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garden or something. Take some shelter.
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Everyone's happy. Everyone's glad to be
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out and just enjoy the space. What
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better things can you do with these
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people you love?
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But there were some familiar failings,
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too. Train passengers in London forced
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to evacuate after spending hours stuck
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on board with no power or air
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conditioning as temperatures climbed.
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[Music]
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Another heat health alert came just days
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later. The public soon becoming familiar
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with the warnings and their
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consequences.
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An amber level alert means the impacts
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of hot weather are likely to be felt
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across the health and social care
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services over the next few days. The
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warning is in place until Tuesday
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evening across the East Midlands, the
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East of England, the Southeast, the
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Southwest and London with a lower level
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yellow alert in place in Yorkshire and
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the Humber and the West Midlands. The
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tens of thousands who have gathered for
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Glastonbury are also feeling the heat.
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I've seen a few people passing out a few
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medics calls. I've got my sun umbrella
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with me and I know I don't look that
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popular.
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Going back to the tent to drink my head
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in a bucket of water.
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In some parts of England, temperatures
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could rise to 31° this weekend before
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potentially reaching as high as 34° on
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Monday.
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That Monday was the start of Wimbledon,
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the warmest ever start to the
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tournament. And as June turned to July,
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fears for the baking British countryside
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only grew. Across 6 and a half thousand
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acres of East Sussex is Ashdown Forest.
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Once a hunting ground for Norman Kings,
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it remains a precious habitat. And on
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the ground, the people who look after it
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are getting more worried about the
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effects of the heat.
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If I just put my hand in the grass and
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pick out some of this, it's just bone
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dry.
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Higher temperatures for longer mean that
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the threat of wildfire hangs in the air
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here much more than it used to. So we've
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got about two and a half% of the UK's
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whole land heathland area and it's that
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land which is home to these really
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specialist birds, butterflies, reptiles
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and every year is getting hotter and
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hotter. So we have to be laser sharp
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every year to make sure that we're doing
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absolutely everything we can in terms of
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managing the landscape. The highest
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temperature of the year so far, 35.8° 8°
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was reached on the 1st of July in
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Fabsham in Kent. And soon people began
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to realize this wasn't just another warm
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summer.
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Baiting's reservoir has a capacity of
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over 3 billion L. Today it looks more
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like desert terrain. Well, the thin line
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of grass is where water should reach,
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but now levels are so low it has exposed
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this old pack horse bridge. Ordinarily,
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this is completely underwater.
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And this is the reason why over 5
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million households across Yorkshire have
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been banned from using hose pipes. Next
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week, another 1.4 million residents from
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the southeast will join them. We know
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with climate change, we're going to see
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more of these sort of heat waves,
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droughts, extreme uh changes of
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temperature, but also of rainfall. So,
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we're going from drought potentially to
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to floods. And that's something we've
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seen over the past few years. So, we do
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need to change our view that perhaps
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water it's not as abundant and it's not
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as plentiful as it always has been.
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Millions were placed under hostpipe bans
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due to the nationally significant water
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shortages. And with harvest on the
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horizon, farmers bore the brunt of the
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multiple heat waves. The most famous
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among them, Jeremy Clarkson, writing on
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social media, "It looks like this year's
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harvest will be catastrophic.
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Last year, this field was filled with
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thousands of sunflowers. This year, it
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is barren.
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The grass hasn't grown. We're going to
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have to feed our cattle food that we
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preserve or keep for the winter." Um, so
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will we have to buy more food in for
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them? Probably. Costs are going up.
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Wheat rifling too quickly. That's going
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to affect um yields. It's going to
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affect quality.
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And if you look in the soil, there is
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not much moisture in there.
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At this farm in Glsters, maize is
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struggling in the drought. It was
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planted to replace wheat destroyed last
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year by an extreme at the other end of
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the scale.
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We had a year's worth of rain in six
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weeks. Um and so that flooded the fields
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and the plant the crop that was planted
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was flooded and dead.
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According to the Met Office, these wild
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swings are now the new norm.
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We're seeing extremes and records on a
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regular basis. And in particular, we're
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seeing the uh frequency uh and intensity
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of spells of hot weather in UK really
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quite dramatically uh increase. July was
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the fifth warmest on record. And as
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schools broke up for the summer,
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families were doing everything they
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could to keep cool.
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[Music]
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We've been loving the sunshine. We love
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being outdoors, being in the water,
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being in the woods, being at the beach.
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So, yeah, love the sunshine. Want more
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of it.
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I've been loving it.
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[Music]
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This way a bit more like Spain Bali. Do
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you think
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it is? Sure. Where else? Whenever the
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weather's like this, where else would
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you want to be? Sure. Costell bali.
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The kids just love it. You know, when
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I'm out of the water and kicking a
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football and we're local, so we don't
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have too far to go home to the shower.
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[Music]
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Oh, it is amazing. We're just out here
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having fun with the family. It's so
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gorgeous. Just on the beach in the sea.
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It's just beautiful. Blue skies. Lovely.
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We always enjoy it. Me and the children
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down here. Great place to come, Clton.
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Really good place. No, we love the
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weather and the children love it more
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than anything.
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Soaking up the sun. I mean, yeah, it's
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like I'm It's like I'm on holiday.
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But it wasn't all sand castles and ice
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creams. There were many for whom hot
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weather poses a much greater risk.
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The elderly and those with health
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conditions are the most at risk from the
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heat.
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The older bodies, they don't adjust
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really well to the temperature like an
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anger body. And also the sense of thirst
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for someone who is older is reduced and
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that puts them under risk for
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dehydration.
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There you go, Marie.
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Thank you. So care homes like this one
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are finding ways to make sure their
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residents stay cool and hydrated.
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As soon as we get that heat wave, we're
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like, "Oh my god, what are we going to
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do? How are we going to make this fun?"
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The more fun we can make it, actually,
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the more likely our residents are going
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to stay hydrated, which is what we want.
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By August, the country's tinder dry
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ground could no longer resist the
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effects of such heat.
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Where high temperatures and dry earth
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meet, fire is known to follow. Today it
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was the turn of crews in London to fight
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wildfires as England felt the fourth
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heat wave of the year.
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Well, fire crews here have been dealing
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with what is an ever evolving situation.
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We're stood about 8 miles from the
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Yorkshire coast in the North York Moors
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National Park. And since we've been
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here, we've been able to smell the smoke
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that's billowing behind me in the
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distance. It's about 30° C. And as you
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can see, the ground here is pretty much
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tinderbox dry. One of the big issues
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that we've been having since being here,
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though, is that the wind is blowing the
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smoke further north, quite literally
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fanning the flames of this wildfire.
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Now, fire crews here were initially
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called to reports of smoke in this area
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on Monday. By Tuesday, the fire was
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about 300 m squared. Now it's believed
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to cover 5 square kilometers. That's why
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North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
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have declared this a major incident
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today. But this is the latest in a
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series of wildfires that we've seen in
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Yorkshire over recent weeks. This is an
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area, remember, that's officially been
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in drought for a number of months.
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There's also an ongoing hose pipe ban in
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this area. Once more, the umbrellas in
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York today weren't to protect from the
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rain, but the sun.
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Little bit too warm.
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Might move in rain.
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It's like very humid and it's like
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melting and it's better than windy,
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windy, overcast rain.
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Day three of the fourth heat wave this
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year saw the hottest temperatures in the
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north and east. But across the country,
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we're seeing records tumble and extremes
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becoming expected.
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In West Sussex, Christopher and Amanda
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have been growing citrus trees for three
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decades. Accustomed to a Mediterranean
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climate, the plants used to spend most
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of their time under glass, but not this
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year.
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From Easter till now, we didn't bring
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them in. Um, usually it's midmay we put
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plants outside hoping to keep them out
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but ready to bring them in if it's going
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to be frosty, but this year we've never
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put them out so early and not brought
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them in again. Climate scientists say
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extreme weather is becoming the new
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normal. The UK has been warming by
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around a quarter of a degree each decade
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since the 80s. The 10 hottest years
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since records began in 1884 have all
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been since 2002. And this spring was the
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warmest and sunniest on record. Dr.
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Diorus from Reading University says we
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need to get used to living with
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extremes.
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Adaptation is very important because we
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are already seeing it's becoming more
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and more difficult to live in the UK
12:47
during the summer season because of heat
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waves. And it's not just the daytime
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temperatures, but it's the nighttime
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temperatures as well.
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In high-end newbu homes, air
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conditioning used to be seen as a
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luxury. Now many insist on it as an
13:03
essential.
13:03
You get the cold air just runs through
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this duct work here.
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Lee's business is tripling each year.
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I've been doing this for 30 years now.
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When I first started, we didn't install
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anything in domestics. Not at all. Now,
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I'd say it's probably making up about
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40% of my business. So, um, you know,
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it's absolutely brilliant for us. But
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this is every year, especially in the
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last 8 years, it is just increased so
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much. Thunderstorms will bring a
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temporary reprieve for some, but a
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yellow heat health warning has now been
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extended until Monday. Expect more
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sweltering nights in the short and long
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term.
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For those who can't cope in the heat,
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the summer months are nearly over now,
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but there's no denying that the global
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climate is changing. Everything's
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getting hotter. Last year was the
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hottest year globally on record. Warm
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air holds more moisture. We have
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torrential spells of rain. We have long
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periods of drought. We have massive
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thunderstorms. We have unseasonal
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storms. The way that we produce our food
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is needing to change all the time. The
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highest temperature ever recorded in the
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UK was in 2022, 40.3 degrees. How long
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will it be until even that record is
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also broken?
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[Music]
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