The continent is cooking. Germany hit 41.7C today. That is a record. The kind of number that makes climate scientists weep and politicians promise action they will never deliver.
But here is the real story. The bit the lobby briefs won't tell you. Our infrastructure held. British rails didn't buckle. Our roads didn't melt. The NHS didn't collapse.
Why? Because we are better at this than them.
Let me explain. The German model, so often praised by Remainers and technocrats, relies on just-in-time logistics and delicate engineering. Their trains run on time until the moment they don't. And when the mercury climbs, their whole system seizes up like a rusty Trabant.
Our system is different. Crap, yes. But robust in its crapness. We've spent a century patching things up with string and British pragmatism. When the heat comes, we complain but we cope. The Tube gets sticky. We open a window. Life goes on.
This matters for Whitehall. The Department for Transport will be briefing Number 10 tonight. They will say the investment in Network Rail's 'climate resilience' programme paid off. They will claim credit. Don't believe it.
The truth is we got lucky. And we have a weather system that is just miserable enough to keep us prepared for anything.
But the politics is tricky. Labour will seize on the German record. They will demand we copy their green policies. They will say we are falling behind.
Don't fall for it. The German heatwave is a political weapon, not a lesson. The real lesson is that British infrastructure, for all its faults, is built to last. Because it has to. Because we don't have the luxury of starting from scratch.
So enjoy the sun. But remember: when the heatwave comes, Britain bakes but it doesn't break. And that is worth more than any shiny German train.
