London is so hot the pavements reached 57°C

London has turned into the world’s biggest sauna, leaving millions with nowhere to escape as the city pulsates heat.

The capital’s homes and paved roads have become heat traps, while humid conditions outside have not helped either, as another heat record could be broken today.

Before midday, London is already hotter than Ethiopia and Bali, Indonesia, on the equator.

Buildings, pavements, station platforms and playgrounds have been sizzling, with many popular spots reaching almost 60C when Greenpeace tested the temperatures across the capital on Wednesday.

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Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus were teeming with visitors, who were unknowingly traipsing on 56C.

Let’s take a look how the other spots fared for heat.

• Regent Street clocked 57C, while the air temperature measured around 35C between the buildings 
• An Overground platform at Highbury and Islington is said to have reached 62C 
• The plaza outside King’s Cross station rocked up to 54C

• And a roadworks site in Holborn measured a whopping 65C, according to Greenpeace  
• Pavement on Gray’s Inn Road reached 59C
• The floor on a Victoria line carriage peaked at 40C
• An Islington playground reached up to 53C in late afternoon

Greenpeace UK’s head of climate Mel Evans said: ‘This record-smashing heatwave has turned London into a sticky, sizzling cauldron. This isn’t just weather – it’s a public health emergency driven by fossil fuel giants and their planet-heating emissions.

‘These abnormal temperatures are stretching homes, schools, transport and our own health to breaking point, and yet the government has been caught off guard.

‘Ministers need to stop winging it and deliver a proper extreme heat plan, with cooler homes and schools, safe limits for workers, more shade and green space, and clear protection for the most vulnerable. But adaptation alone won’t be enough.

‘Political leaders must also stop fossil fuel companies from turning up the heat on our planet – and make them pay their fair share to fix the problem they’ve caused.’

Alarm has been raised that extreme temperatures endured this week could become the new norm in the near future, and exacerbated by human-driven climate change.

London mayor Sadiq Khan told Metro that the city is ‘not equipped to deal with frequent and extreme heat waves’ as he unveiled the capital’s heat plan.

The Met Office said temperatures reaching 45C in the UK is a ‘plausible’ scenario in 2056.

There could be nine consecutive days where temperatures exceed 40C somewhere in the UK in a few decades, forcing major changes and mitigation.

Professor Stephen Belcher CBE, Met Office’s chief scientist, said: ‘The heatwave this week will be a significant weather event, with a Red Extreme Heat warning issued.

‘Human induced climate change has made events like this more likely and more intense. To see temperatures like this in the UK in June is sobering.

‘Events like this bring home the implications of climate change, with very high temperatures and humidity bringing significant health implications from heat stress, as well as impacts to a range of sectors such as transport, energy and water supply.’

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