Painting London’s roofs white could have saved hundreds of lives during a record-breakingly hot summer, according to a UK study.
The average temperature from June through August 2018 was 19.2C - around 1.6C higher than usual for that time of year. In 2024, researchers from University College London (UCL) and the University of Exeter found that cool, light-coloured roofs installed across all of London’s roofs could have cooled the city by around 0.8C.
