The June Heat Wave Cost The U.K. Economy Over $1.5 Billion

Last month’s heat wave in the U.K. not only broke June temperature records but may have cost the country more than £1 billion ($1.33 billion) in lost economic output. That’s according to a new analysis by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC).The heat wave, which lasted between June 18 and July 1, resulted in England’s warmest June since records began in 1884, with daily maximum temperatures often reaching over 90°F. A provisional high of 37.7°C (99.86°F) was recorded at Lingwood, Strumpshaw Hill in Norfolk on June 26, the most significant new national record for June. High temperatures led to delayed and cancelled trains, while shops, offices, and schools were forced to close. Elizabeth Robinson, director of the Grantham Research Institute, and Shouro Dasgupta, environmental economist at the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change and visiting senior fellow at the Grantham Research Institute, carried out a survey to better understand how the heat affected workers around the country during the week of June 22. They then scaled that information to calculate the cost to the economy.The two ...