For 27-year-old banker Aykhan, this week's heatwave was a breeze - literally. Traveling from his air-conditioned flat to the air-conditioned Elizabeth line to his air-conditioned office in Canary Wharf, he reported sleeping very well, thanks to the "great" AC in his new flat. He noted that office attendance was up because colleagues wanted to enjoy the cool air. Meanwhile, just one Elizabeth line stop away in Whitechapel - one of the UK's most deprived areas - 26-year-old Asiyha sat under a tree in Weavers Fields trying to soothe her baby. "It is way too hot in my flat, that is why we are sitting outside," she said. "My baby is struggling. We are in a very hot flat and we cannot sleep at night."
England recorded its hottest May days in history this week, with London hitting 35°C and consecutive "tropical nights" where temperatures stayed above 20°C. For those without air conditioning, sleep became a distant memory. The Resolution Foundation found that 48% of the poorest fifth of English households live in homes liable to overheat - three times the rate among the richest fifth (17%). In Canary Wharf, the steely skyscrapers and underground shopping center offered a cool refuge for suited workers. Will, 37, a banker, wore a linen shirt thanks to relaxed dress codes and relies on his Edwardian house's high ceilings and shutters. Delano, 21, serving lunch at Boisdale restaurant, makes do with an Argos fan at home but appreciates the AC at work and the restaurant's frozen cocktails. A group of eight men in their early 20s, enjoying beers on an artificially turfed square, admitted they can't afford AC yet - "that's why we work in finance, so one day we can afford it!" One had a novel sleep strategy: "I drink four pints in the evening, that knocks me out!"
Fans and AC units have spiked in price - up 17% since April, with the Dyson Cool Tower fan rising from £249.99 to £299 on Amazon. Toni, 35, in tech, said her new-build Woolwich flat is "deliciously cold" and she wishes the heat lasted all year. In Whitechapel, 21-year-old student Shereen, drinking juice in an air-conditioned Budgens, burst out laughing when asked if she had AC at home. Traditional workers' cafes like E Pellicci, a 126-year-old Grade II-listed family cafe in Bethnal Green, can't install AC due to listing restrictions; manager Anna Pellicci makes do with a cheap white fan. Waitress Amy said her flat is "boiling" and humid, making sleep hard. Several people mentioned the oppressive heat of the No. 8 bus, cheaper than the cool Elizabeth line, where passengers mopped brows and overheated children cried.
Yet under the concrete tower blocks of the Cranbrook Estate in Tower Hamlets lies a green oasis - a community food garden founded by Laura Buckley. "We have been sitting out here pretty much every day during the heatwave," she said, noting the plants keep it cool. The garden provides water for birds, bees, and a fox, and is open to all, especially estate residents banned from balcony plants. "This place provides respite and joy for so many people," Buckley said, sitting under trailing vines as baby wrens cheeped above.