JUST Stop Oil activists halted traffic on the M25 today in protest against the government’s “inadequate preparations” for climate change following record-breaking temperatures on Tuesday. 

Supporters of the climate activist group climbed onto gantries which support overhead motorway signs at three points along the M25 this morning, causing police to close off sections of the road. 

Declaring the M25 a site of “civil resistance,” Just Stop Oil said it will aim to block the motorway until Friday, demanding the government to make a statement to immediately halt all future fossil fuel projects. 

The group said that the heatwave had revealed just “how inadequate the government’s preparations for climate change are and its entire policy.

“We’re just saying it’s evident now we cannot continue,” a Just Stop Oil spokesperson said. 

“We need to stop new oil. It’s the first step to ensuring we have a liveable future, and maybe it’s already too late.”

Lanes on some sections of the M25 were reopened by this afternoon after police moved in to arrest one of the protesters. 

Surrey Police said that a 22-year-old woman had been removed from the gantry by a specialist team and arrested on suspicion of causing a danger to road users, causing a public nuisance and being a pedestrian on the motorway.

Temperatures reached 40°C in Britain for the first time ever on Tuesday, which led to major incidents announced by fire brigades in London, Leicestershire and South Yorkshire as fires broke out across the country in the heat.