Premium summer journalism: marvelling at how hot it is. From Metro:

Brits to swelter as temperatures hit new high

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Baking Britain is set to hit record temperatures again as the country sweltered in the grip of heatwave conditions.

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The weather has prompted the Government to set up a heatwave advice page on its own Directgov website as NHS Direct received hundreds of calls from patients suffering symptoms related to the heat.

With the heatwave hitting areas around London hardest, legions of workers swapped their suit trousers for shorts and took extended lunch breaks to make the most of the weather.

Staff should be encouraged to wear shorts during the sweltering heat to make work more bearable and prevent them “collapsing” at their desks, the TUC urged.

But I get the feeling that something is not right when the following is news as well. From Metro yesterday:

Hottest June for three years

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Soaring summer temperatures and a scorching end to the month have given Britain its hottest June for three years, according to figures out today.

With temperatures climbing to a sweltering 30C and above, the last month was the hottest, driest and sunniest since July 2006.

Measured against the average over the period of 1971 - 2000, sunshine hours in England and Wales, was 222 hours, which is 117% of the 1971-2000 average, according to figures from climatologist Philip Eden. The equivalent figures for Scotland were 227 hours, 129%, and for Northern Ireland 261 hours, 142%.

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