London's Tube Is Dangerously Hot, and the City Can't Do Much About It

It’s not fair to compare London’s cramped commuters to cattle; right now, livestock actually get the better deal. As temperatures in the U.K.’s capital push towards 90 degrees for the second week running, heat levels in London’s Tube and bus system have now risen above the EU limit at which it is legal to transport cows, sheep, and pigs. The highest recorded temperature on the network so far this year is 96 degrees Fahrenheit, 10 degrees above the permissible 86 degrees Fahrenheit for livestock.

If that sounds bad (and it does), London is actually doing OK compared to previous heat waves. In 2006, temperatures in one Tube train reached an unprecedented high of 116 degrees Fahrenheit thanks to a system that has no real air conditioning installed. At temperatures like these, so many people risk fainting that a crowded Tube carriage can look like the witness box at the Salem Witch Trials. So, how can London, city of fog, tolerate such steamy hell?