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Ulviyya Poladova

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Hospitals across parts of the United Kingdom have been forced to cancel or postpone operations due to extreme heat and insufficient air conditioning, as record June temperatures place significant strain on the healthcare system, AzerNEWS reports, citing Financial Times.

Air temperatures in some areas of southern England have risen to nearly 36°C, marking one of the highest June readings on record. The intense heat has prompted several medical institutions to declare emergency conditions as operating theatres and other clinical areas become unsafe for routine procedures.

Among the affected facilities are East Surrey Hospital, the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board in Wales, and Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth. These hospitals reported operational disruptions caused by overheating in critical departments and inadequate cooling capacity to maintain safe working conditions for patients and staff.

As a result, certain operating theatres, diagnostic units, and other medical zones were deemed unsuitable for clinical activity, leading to the postponement of planned surgeries.

According to Financial Times, citing calculations by researchers at the University of Birmingham, between 1,400 and 4,000 surgical procedures may have been at risk of cancellation over the course of four of the hottest days of the week.

Climate change is driving up temperatures around the world - but particularly in Europe. It is the fastest warming continent, heating up twice as fast as the global average, according to the Copernicus climate service.

Image: Tim Wege / Alamy