Can UK events survive the extreme heat?
Summer temperatures in the UK and globally over the past decade have broken record after record, causing illness, claiming lives, and taking a large economic toll. Looking to this year’s summer after a particularly rainy spring, there is growing concern that rising temperatures might derail some of our favourite public events, including concerts, festivals, and sports. Shade the UK looks at the evidence and provides some tips for how event organisers can help us beat the heat.
In November of last year, tens of thousands of Taylor Swift fans descended on the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro to watch her perform as part of her latest Eras Tour. However, what neither organisers nor attendees were expecting was for the city to be caught up in a record-breaking heatwave, with temperatures soaring past 40ºC. And as the number of people in the stadium started to rise, so did the heat, with conditions even more stifling within the packed venue itself.
What ensued was disaster. As the concert progressed, fans started to suffer the effects of extreme heat. People became dizzy and nauseated as heat stroke started to set in, organisers started to hand out bottled water but there was not enough. At one point, it is reported that Swift herself was seen throwing a water bottle into the crowd. Yet, it was not enough to stop the heat, with subsequent reports from local emergency services revealing that over 1,000 people fainted as a direct result of the heat and overcrowding, according to local media.
Tragically, these events culminated in the death of a fan, 23-year-old Ana Clara Benevides Machado, after she fell ill just before the show. According to organisers, she had sought medical help after starting to feel unwell and was hospitalised shortly afterwards. She was pronounced dead one hour later, with the cause of death given as heat-related cardiorespiratory arrest; according to a forensics report from Rio’s Forensic Medical Institute, Ana Clara had no pre-existing conditions or substance abuse that could have possibly led to her death.
Following the event, those in attendance were quick to point the finger of blame at the event’s organisers for the concert’s mismanagement and how their inaction likely exacerbated the disaster. Specifically, concertgoers complained of being unable to adequately hydrate themselves once within the venue, with organisers strictly prohibiting fans from bringing in their own bottles of water, whilst failing to provide sufficient quantities to the audience as the heatwave unfolded.
And whilst the events in Rio were tragic, recent years have shown that this cannot be taken as an isolated incident; in just the past year, a number of large outdoor events have been either cancelled or postponed due to extreme heat, with thousands suffering heat-related illness as a result. These range from Ed Sheeran’s concert in Pittsburgh, to the hospitalisations from the Sydney Marathon, to a South Korean scout jamboree that saw thousands evacuated as a result.
Hence, public attention is quickly turning to the question of whether UK events organisers are doing enough to ensure we are protected during similar events and stave off the worst effects of extreme heat. However, with many countries around the world already suffering from the worst effects of climate change, there are several examples from abroad that UK organisers can rely upon to inform their future strategies.
A growing trend?
Last year was officially the world’s hottest year on record. According to the latest climate data, 2023 recorded the highest average global surface temperature for any year since records began in 1850, at 1.18ºC warmer than pre-industrial levels. Compounding this, a recent report from the American Meteorological Society (AMS) revealed that the warming of our climate is inextricably linked to the rise in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, heatwaves included.
What does this mean? Human activities are now clearly contributing to global warming, and the consequences in terms of extreme weather occurrences will be far-reaching. And there is plenty of evidence to suggest that this is already being borne out; according to analysis from the UN, once-in-50-year heatwaves are now likely to strike every decade. Furthermore, modelling shows that heatwaves show a stronger increase in frequency as temperatures rise than any other form of extreme weather event.
It appears evident then that heat-related disasters at such events as the concert in Rio will only grow in frequency and severity, should we collectively be unable to adapt their organisation and planning procedures to ensure resilience in the face of extreme weather.
According to one expert on the subject, Milad Haghani, senior lecturer in public safety and disaster risk at UNSW Sydney, the time to act is already here, with heatwaves already taking their toll on our much loved events. Analysing reports from across Australian news outlets, Dr. Haghani was able to map a growing trend with regards to freak weather events and music festival cancellations; from 2022-23, over 22 music festivals across the country were either cancelled or impacted due to extreme weather, compared to a mere 10 weather-related interruptions from 2013-19.
“Severe weather impacts on music festivals and concerts have ranged from delays and cancellations, to the evacuation of venues and areas mid-festival or mid-performance,” stated Dr. Haghani. “This will be a growing challenge for the industry”.
Hence, as the climate progressively warms, more and more of these events will likely be under threat.
Fears for summer 2024
Of particular concern are the upcoming sporting events of this summer, not least the Paris 2024 Olympics, set to take place between July and August. Recent excitement has started to turn to worry following the publication of a recent study in Nature, detailing how the French capital now faces a not insignificant risk of record-breaking heat in the coming months, threatening to derail the entire event.
The study, in which investigators deployed atmospheric models to run a series of simulations into extreme heat scenarios for the Games, lends credence to the notion that the previous heatwave record set in France could be broken. During the summer of 2003, Europe experienced its hottest summer since 1540 with extremes of temperature persisting for many weeks. In France alone, temperatures spiked over 40.5ºC and an estimated 15,000 lives were claimed as a result.
Speaking to the AFP, the lead author of the study, Dr. Pascal Yiou, revealed that this is not only possible, but relatively likely. "In the 20th century, it wasn't possible to go beyond this record, but now we cannot only equal it but surpass it with a probability that is ultimately quite high, in the region of 1/100," he suggested. With temperatures threatening to reach the levels they did in the summer of 2003, it is difficult to foresee the Games progressing, as this would put thousands of athletes and spectators at grave risk.
Organisers, however, are keen to stress that they are taking measures to combat the worst effects of this, particularly in light of the fact that extreme heats combined with strenuous exercise are likely to exacerbate potential heat-related cardiovascular problems. For example, operational teams have run simulations looking at the feasibility of shifting certain events to earlier or later in the day, avoiding the midday sun, with reassurances that all indoor facilities had been built with global heating in mind.
Despite assurances such as these, and whilst any measures to help people keep cool are appreciated, we believe that organisers can go much further to ensure public events are safe for all involved. The necessity of this, particularly here in the UK, is underscored by recent reports of Met Office-predicted heatwaves striking this year - what this will mean for UK sports and music events, such as Wimbledon or the Taylor Swift concerts at Wembley, is currently unknown.
For example, following the concert tragedy in Rio last year, event organisers were quick to implement an action plan to beat the heat as temperatures continued to rise. And whilst these measures do support people to keep cool - including lifting bans on entry with water bottles, distributing more bottled water, boosting staff numbers, and providing further on-site medical care - we worry that it might take further tragedies, possibly even a disaster, to motivate further industry-wide action.
How to beat the heat - Shade the UK’s recommendations
We at Shade the UK recognise there are multiple warning signs for the upcoming summer and the threats to some of our favourite events here in the UK, yet few organisations are providing tangible guidance for how both organisers and attendees can keep safe in the heat. The UK is starting to see some organisations come out in support of measures to safeguard sporting events from hot weather - for example, the Sports Ground Safety Authority and the English Cricket Board. And it was welcome news to hear that Sport England has recently launched their first-ever environmental sustainability strategy, Every Move. This £45 million programme aims to help the sport and physical activity sector respond to climate change.
However, whilst this strategy reflects the kind of change we need to see within the sector, it could provide further guidance on how partner organisations’ sustainability action plans should address hot weather and heatwaves. We also need to see similar guidance on integrating ‘heat action plans’ into sustainability standards for associated sectors, including outdoor events and festivals, music and the arts.
Therefore, in the absence of such guidance, we are providing a series of recommendations for venues and event organisers to ensure our sporting and musical events can be enjoyed without any heat-related hitches this summer.
Create shade - We encourage venues and event organisers to ensure ample shaded areas within and around their events, to allow attendees respite from the heat if they need it. For example, provide pavilions, gazebos, shade sails, umbrellas for outdoor seating, and incorporate trees and plants wherever possible. Furthermore, any major walkways or congregation areas should ideally be shaded from the sun, to keep large crowds out of direct sunlight and enable ease of movement.
Cooling stations - In order to avoid, or recover from, the effects of overheating, we encourage venues and event organisers to provide sufficient places for people to keep cool. This could include anything ranging from energy and water-efficient ‘misting stations’, to simply providing shade and green spaces (see above) for people to get out of heat and rest.
Keep hydrated - We encourage venues and event organisers to ensure they have drinking water fountains and bottle refill stations as standard. These should be backed up by sufficient supplies of bottled water during summer events, with procedures in place to allow for the rapid access to drinking water and distribution of bottled water in the event of a heatwave.
Schedule changes - To beat the worst effects of the sun and the heat, we encourage venues and event organisers to consider adjusting their schedules to avoid the midday or mid-afternoon. If possible, consider rearranging event dates completely in order to avoid the summer months.
Temperature limits - We encourage venues and event organisers to consider incorporating evidence-based temperature limits above which contingency plans are implemented or, in extreme cases where heat poses a severe risk to human health, events may need to come to an end (see below).
Evacuation plans - In the event of an extreme heat event, we encourage venues and event organisers to have contingency plans in place to ensure the safe evacuation of attendees, ideally following shaded routes and cooling stations along the way.
Much more can be done to keep people comfortable, healthy and safe during hot weather, not just at music and sporting events. If you are interested to know more, reach out to us at STUK and we can provide you with further information.
Written by Oliver Longstaff
