One summer day two years ago, a compost heap in Wennington, East London, spontaneously caught fire. It was July 19, 2022, the hottest day since British records began, with temperatures pushing 40°C across the capital, the flames spreading quickly along a garden fence. Firefighters struggled to keep up: one told LBC: “It felt apocalyptic… we had no chance of stopping it”, as the blaze reached homes nearby. One resident said her house burned down within two minutes. Locals took shelter in nearby St Mary and St Peter's Church, which became filled with smoke. Luckily, no one died, but 19 houses were destroyed.
A year before that came another freak event: a month's rain fell on some parts of the capital in just one hour. Kensington and Chelsea residents were evacuated from their homes, eight Underground lines were suspended, and many stations closed. Videos show cars driving through deep water on roads in Battersea.
