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A woman is helped across a highway blocked by a landslide triggered by Hurricane Otis, near Acapulco, Mexico, October 25, 2023
OCTOBER was the hottest on record globally, 1.7°C (3.1°F) warmer than the pre-industrial average for the month, according to figures published today by the European Union’s climate agency.
Last month was a massive 0.4°C (0.7°F) warmer than the previous record for the month, set in 2019, which surprised even Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, which publishes monthly bulletins of global surface air and sea temperatures, among other data.
Ms Burgess said: “The amount that we’re smashing records by is shocking.”
The recent heatwaves revealed how ill-prepared Britain remains for a hotter future – and how unequal the ability to cope with it has become, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
Extreme heat is now one of the defining public health challenges of a warming world, explains Prof IAN WILLIAMS