It’s actually not that fun travelling to work in tropical temperatures.

London is still melting under a heatwave, with scorching weather continuing over the weekend and into early next week.

If your office is air conditioned, you’re luckier than some, but all of us who use public transport have to face the indignity of overheated, overcrowded tube carriages where the scent of a fellow passenger’s body odour is always distinguishable.


But how hot is the Underground really?

Are we emerging from the dark tunnels slicked with sweat (not always ours, either) and desperate for a glass of ice water because it’s really hot or are we just big British babies who cant’ cope with the heat?



Thanks to a temperature test by Bolsover Cruise Club, we can now definitively say that it’s seriously hot down there.

The hottest tube station was found to be Euston with temperatures of 34.2 degrees – hot enough to rival downtown Los Angeles.

Euston was closely followed by Bank, which is as hot as the Mexican city of Cancun at 33.4 degrees.

You can experience Bali temperatures (without the beaches or coral reefs) at Holborn, where the temperature was recorded as 32.2 degrees.

The hottest London Underground stations and their temperature equivalent travel destinations Euston – 34.2 degrees, Los Angeles Bank – 33.4 degrees, Cancun Tottenham Court Road – 33.3 degrees, Bordeaux Bond Street – 33.1 degrees, Florence Liverpool Street – 32.6 degrees, Kuala Lumpur Holborn – 32.2 degrees, Bali Green Park – 32 degrees, Bodrum Leicester Square – 31.7 degrees, Marbella Piccadilly Circus – 30.9 degrees, Dubrovnik Covent Garden – 30.7 degrees, Allicante Oxford Circus – 30.2 degrees, Venice South Kensington – 29.9 degrees, Ibiza King’s Cross – 29.5 degrees, Monaco Waterloo – 29.3 degrees, Santorini

On the trains themselves, it was even hotter.

That announcement telling you to carry a bottle of water in the hot weather? Definitely worth listening to.

The Bakerloo line was the hottest tube line, with temperatures of 38.2 degrees recorded. No wonder commuters are feeling sweaty and bad tempered.

The temperatures at the hottest underground stations and their international destination equivalents. (Picture: Ella Byworth fr Metro.co.uk)

The Piccadilly and Northern lines were close behind, treating passengers to stifling temperatures of just over 37 degrees.

According to the London Transport Authority, air conditioning is being installed on the Central line… it just won’t be ready until early 2030 (hankfully not late 2030, so there’s no need to panic).

The heat on board isn’t good for young children, the elderly and anyone who’s pregnant or unwell.

Due to the temperatures reached in the carriages at peak times on hot days it would be illegal to transport livestock on the @centralline yet we still cram ourselves in like sardines every day trying to get to and from work #sos — Dan Bridgeman (@DanJBridgeman) July 25, 2018

Many passengers have reported feeling faint in crowded and sweltering conditions that it’s illegal to transport farm animals in.

Commuting in London during a heatwave is like going abroad… but without any of the beaches, landmarks, cocktails or delicious food.

Basically, sweating through your work clothes before you even get to the office is definitely not preferable to going abroad.

We need AC on the underground before 2030, please.

MORE: How to help homeless people during the heatwave

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