Paris is boiling. The mercury hit 42°C on Tuesday, and the city’s canals have turned into makeshift swimming pools. Desperate Parisians, stripped to their underwear, are jumping into the Canal Saint-Martin as France issues a red alert for the heatwave. Meanwhile, in London, the government is patting itself on the back. Sources confirm that UK heatwave preparedness has been compared favourably to France’s chaotic response. But let’s not get too smug.
Uncovered documents from the Environment Agency show that UK contingency plans rely heavily on a patchwork of local initiatives and voluntary organisations. The Met Office’s new early warning system, while praised, has not been tested in a sustained heat event like this. The truth is, we are one power grid failure away from a national crisis.
The bodies are piling up in France. At least four deaths have been linked to the heat, with the elderly and homeless most at risk. In Paris, hospitals are overwhelmed, and the morgues are full. The French government has activated emergency cooling centres, but they are few and far between. The rich flee to the coast; the poor sweat it out in concrete towers.
Back in the UK, the narrative is one of relief. The Heatwave Plan for England, updated in 2023, includes a new ‘Level 4’ response for extreme events. But critics argue that the plan lacks teeth. There is no legal obligation for care homes to provide air conditioning. No national register of vulnerable people. No mandatory breaks for outdoor workers. The comparison with France is favourable because France is in meltdown, not because the UK is a model of preparedness.
Let’s talk about the money. The French energy giant EDF has shut down four nuclear reactors because the rivers used for cooling are too hot. That’s a 6% reduction in national power capacity. In the UK, we have no such issue because our nuclear plants are mostly coastal. But our aging infrastructure is creaking. The National Grid has issued a warning about potential blackouts if the heatwave continues. So much for comparing favourably.
The real scandal is the lack of investment. The government’s own Climate Change Committee warned in 2022 that the UK is not prepared for the increase in extreme heat events. Their report, buried in a drawer at Whitehall, called for £5 billion in adaptation spending. Instead, we got a 0.5% budget cut for the Environment Agency. The money that could have been used to install public cooling centres, plant shade trees, and insulate homes is nowhere to be seen.
But let’s not forget the human cost. In France, the elderly are dying alone in unventilated apartments. In the UK, the same fate awaits if we don’t act. The comparison is a distraction. A way for ministers to avoid hard questions. The truth is, both countries are failing their citizens. The only difference is the speed of the collapse.
As I write this, the temperature in Paris is still rising. The canals are crowded. The ambulances are silent because there are no more to send. And in London, the government is issuing press releases about how well we’re doing. Don’t believe them. Follow the money. Find the bodies. The heatwave is just the beginning.
