Essay by Eric Worrall
Apparently the adaption event venue needed more adaption.
Heat adaptation event cancelled as heatwave grips
James W Kelly London
An event due to be held in central London about how the world can adapt to extreme heat has been cancelled due to soaring temperatures.
Wednesday’s meeting – titled Extreme Heat: Improving governance and strengthening action around the world – was to have been held at the London School of Economics’ Shaw Library as part of London Climate Action Week.
Organisers said the university’s building did not have any cooling mechanisms in place “like most buildings in London”.
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The soaring temperatures have led to hundreds of school closures, or partial closures, across London and southern England.
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Britain’s renewable heavy grid is struggling to keep up with demand from people switching on fans and air conditioners.
Great Britain’s grid operator pays £10m for extra power to avoid supply crunch tonight
Neso expected to pay millions to secure enough electricity to meet demand as households turn on fans and air conditioning
Joanna Partridge Jillian Ambrose
Thu 25 Jun 2026 01.33 AEST First published on Wed 24 Jun 2026 18.23 AESTGreat Britain’s grid operator is expected to pay millions to fire up gas power plants to avoid a rare summer power supply crunch on Wednesday evening as extreme heat puts pressure on the energy system.
The National Energy System Operator (Neso) is expected to pay about £10m on Wednesday to secure enough electricity to meet demand as households turn on air conditioners and electric fans, according to industry data.
The system operator will pay more than four times the usual daily average to secure enough supplies to balance the power system after it issued a notice late on Tuesday asking generators to provide any extra electricity to help meet rising demand due to the impact of the heatwave.
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A Neso spokesperson said: “This is due to the impact of extremely high temperatures affecting Great Britain and the continent, and low wind.”
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Apparently the solar panels fared a little better than the wind turbines. While the efficiency of solar panels drops substantially in warm weather, this was likely counterbalanced by sunshine actually striking the panels.
To be fair dispatchable power plants are also struggling with cooling. But the difference between dispatchable plants and renewables is dispatchable plants caught short by overheating can be fixed by adding a higher capacity cooling system. Renewable systems not so much.
King Charles takes the prize for the best solution to coping with the heatwave. While King Charles braved the heat, some poor sod apparently had the job of running around after him with a fan, to keep his royal highness comfortable. I tried suggesting to my wife she could do this for me in warm weather, I’m hoping the bruises heal by the end of the week.
