LONDON SWELTERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 224, 21 September 1932, Page 8

LONDON SWELTERS.

HEAT RECORDS BROKEN. • SIX DEATHS REPORTED. HOTTEST DAY AND NIGHT. .The hottest day,in England for two years, and the . hottest night in the same . period, were experienced last month. In London the thermometer soared to 89.5 degrees in the shade, while the reading in the sun was as high as 135 degrees. Even at eight o'clock at night the mercury had fallen to only 85 degress, and at 10 p.m. to 79 degrees, the hottest night for two years. Everywhere there were remarkable ecenes, as countless thousands of people were bent' on one quest —how to keep cool. At Brighton the sea near the Palace Pier was .60 crowded with bathers that it was impossible to swim more than two strokes without colliding with someone. Children walked through streets in bathing costumes. , The temperature in London —89.5 between 4 ' p.m. and 4.30 p.m.—was the highest in . Britain. It was an increase of CJ degrees on the highest reading on the previous day, and 19 degrees above the seasonal normal. With the excep- . tion of August 28 and 29, 1930, when the mercury rose above 90 degrees, London has not experienced such excessive heat since July, 1923. Warm Spots in the Country. In many places throughout England and Wales the temperature exceeded 85 degrees. Here are some of the warmest spots outside London: Malvern and Jersey, 88 degrees; Tunbridge Wells and South Farnborough, 87 degrees; Rhyl, Aberystwyth, Weston-super-Mare, Bath, 86 degrees. Many areas, particularly in the west, were between 10 and 15 degrees hotter than on the previous day. On the eouth coast, Seaford and Brighton - both had

83 degrees; Brighton had only 64 degrees.

Hospitals all along the south coast were besieged by holiday girls suffering from severe sunburn. Chemists at many resorts were called out of their beds at midnight by sufferers whose backs, arms and legs were blistered from hours of exposure to the blazing sunshinfe. An official at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, said: "We have never had so many cases of sunburn.' Some are in very great pain indeed. A doctor has been kept busy treating them." Dozens of people collapsed during the day from heat on south coast beaches," and were treated for slight sunstroke. Crowded Beaches. All round the coaet crowds of holidaymakers sought the seashore for cooling breezes, although the sun beat down with such intensity that, at Brighton, for instance, the shingle was as hot as an oven shelf.

Women lay face downwards with only a towel around them, and men lowered their bathing costumes to the waiet. Some stretches of beach were so crowded that to walk across them was like competing in an obstacle race.

Many people were overcome by the heat, and six deaths were reported from collapse during the day.