LONDON SWELTERS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 268, 12 October 1932, Page 7

LONDON SWELTERS.

HEAT RECORDS' BROKEN. The hottest day in England for two years, and tho hottest night in the same period, were experienced in. August. 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 degrees, and at 10 p.m. to 79 degrees, the hottest night for two years. Everywhere there were remarkable f scenes, as countless thousands of people were bent on one quest—how to keep cool. At Brighton the sea near the Palace Pier was so 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 61 degrees on the highest reading on the previous day, and 19 ■ degrees above the seasonal normal. With the exception 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 tho warmest spots outside London: Mai- • vern and Jersey, 88 degrees; Tunbridge Wells and South Farnborough, 87 degrees; Rhyl, Aberystwyth, West-on-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 south coast, Seaford and Brighton both had 83 degrees; Brighton had only 64 degrees. Hospitals all along the south coast wero 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 sunshine. _ , _ An official at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, said: “We have never had so many cases of sun-'-burn. Some are in very great pain' indeed. A doctor has been kept busv 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 coasts crowds of holi-dav-makers 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 nien lowered their bathing costumes to the waist. Some stretches of beach were so crowded that to walk across them was like completing in an obstacle rac ®- Many people were overcome by the heat and. six deaths were reported from collapse during the day.