Dutz

The previous record for the hottest May day in UK history was 32.8°C, set in 1922. That record stood for 104 years. They just blew past it by 2 full degrees. To put 34.8°C in context for Americans: that's 94.6°F. Phoenix would barely notice. But the UK has a problem Phoenix doesn't. Less than 5% of British homes have air conditioning. In 2008, that number was 0.5%. France is at 25%. Germany is at 19%. The UK is the least climate-adapted wealthy country in Western Europe by a wide margin. And it gets worse. British homes were engineered to retain heat. Thick brick walls, small windows, heavy insulation, minimal ventilation. Every design choice optimized for surviving cold, wet winters. At 34.8°C, those same features turn a home into a slow cooker. The walls absorb heat during the day and radiate it inward at night. Temperatures inside can exceed outdoor temperatures by several degrees and stay elevated until 2 or 3am. The most counterintuitive part: new builds overheat worse than Victorian houses. Modern UK homes are sealed tighter with better insulation, which is exactly what traps hot air inside. A 2022 survey found 80% of UK homes reported overheating that summer. The country hit 40.3°C the same year and recorded 3,271 heat-related deaths in England and Wales. The UK's entire housing infrastructure was designed to solve a problem that's becoming less relevant every decade while the opposite problem accelerates with no retrofit plan.