The summer London turned yellow

Londoner Live: Who is the real Andy Burnham?

In less than a month, we're hosting a special Londoner event about Andy Burnham and what he really believes. The Londoner's founder Joshi Herrmann will be joined on stage by four journalists who have covered our new prime minister closely over the years: Patrick Maguire from The Times, Helen Pidd from The Guardian and Jack Dulhanty from The Mill. The panel will be chaired by Beth Rigby from Sky News, and will tackle questions like: What actually is “Manchesterism”? And what will it mean for London?

It's on Wednesday 9 September, 6pm – 7.30pm, at London Scottish House, Westminster. Tickets are £15, or just £5 for paying Londoner members. Click the button below to get yours.

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It’s mid-morning and a fresh 20℃ in Holland Park’s Kyoto Garden, designed in traditional Japanese style by Shoji Nakahara in 1991. Twenty degrees is still t-shirt temperature, but by recent standards it feels positively frigid. “I’ve never known a summer like this,” says head gardener Martin Moore, shaking his head as we watch a heron survey serene ornamental carp gliding through the central pond. “There’s never been a summer like this.”

There have been five official heatwaves across the UK so far this year. According to a recent Met Office report, 2026’s is on track to be the hottest summer on record for the nation. For context, the last mega heatwave was in 1995, with 34 days recorded above 30℃. Last week, that record was broken, with 39 days hit. London and the south east have suffered most; in July, the capital endured an essentially rain-free month. Only on Thursday did we finally get some precious precipitation — just a handful of showers sporadically through the day, but a shock to the system nevertheless. 

The effect of this has been to turn the ‘urban forest’ of London, where public green spaces count for 20% of the city, into dusty desertlands. Shrubs have shrivelled and trees are shedding curling brown leaves early to try and preserve as much moisture as possible. The grass in our many parks has turned the colour of box-dyed blonde hair without toner. At night, the yellow is so stark, formerly vast green expanses almost look silver in the dusk, like they’re dusted with winter frost. Hampstead Heath is a hayfield. 

Presiding over this desecration are a despairing crop of gardeners, like Moore. Although strategies for adapting to climate change have been a constant throughout his horticultural career, this is the first time the reality is being properly felt.