Phew What A Scorcher

Soaring temperatures across the country have led to what will doubtless be merely the first of this year's summer disasters. The second wildfire in a fortnight broke out in the Scottish Highlands, and soon became one of the largest recorded in the UK; while Wales and the southern and central parts of the important bit were subject to warnings of flooding, power cuts, and a degree of travel disruption significantly above and beyond that which has been accomplished by decades of British pragmatism in the matter of national infrastructure. Most gravely of all, according to the priorities of Britain's leading liberal newspaper, three or more soldiers in silly costumes fainted from heat exhaustion while rehearsing next weekend's Ruritanian rah-rah. Not only has the climate emergency insinuated its effects into the very heart of ceremonial Britishness, but with élite guardsmen of this calibre the reconquest of Afghanistan seems as far away as ever.