Travelling on the Tube is excruciatingly tough during a heatwave, with some lines known to reach 31C in the peak of summer. But, at least there’s some comfort knowing us city folk are all in it together; packed in like sardines, desperate for a cool breeze, begging for the sweet relief of street-level.
A man using the Central line over the weekend had this very experience – and Londoners feel so seen. Micro-influencer Owen Willis was left drenched in sweat during his “humbling” journey, with literal droplets falling from his nose as temperatures skyrocketed above ground.
Taking to Instagram and TikTok to share the relatable video, the online personality captioned it “Central line and 30 degree heat is not for the weak”. Finding the funny side, he paired it with the ‘Nothing beats a Jet2holiday’ sign-off, the iconic tagline turned meme featuring Jess Glynne’s Hold My Hand.
Now seen over 2 million times, people living and working in the capital are admitting to also being a ‘hot mess’ on the London Underground in recent days. One commenter said: “You really risk drowning in our own sweat just to get to work each day.”
Another added: “I’m sorry but why does everyone else looks fine? Am I the one whale struggling for life?,” with a third writing: “I sweat just as much on the Underground, if not more! Took a neck fan with me and it was just blowing warm air onto me.”
Whilst some were quick to dismiss the reality of the “hell tubes” as the UK is nowhere near as warm as ‘Pakistan or Italy’, many others from abroad jumped to our defence, stating London’s heat is unlike anything else.
“I was a judgy New Yorker,” one person said, “I was in London recently and thought a Jubilee line train was going to end me. Also why was it hot in a theatre?”
Someone else shared: “As someone who has lived in a hot tropical country for 21 years where temperatures reach 40 degrees, the UK’s heat has to be radioactive”.
Transport for London (TfL) data shows there’s one line that stands out as worse than the rest – the Victoria line. Experts checking the success of cooling initiatives found it was the hottest of them all, reaching a height of 31C last August.
Much of the problem stems from a lack of air conditioning on the 162-year-old network of tunnels. The oldest date back to the 1800s and there simply just isn’t enough room to add air-conditioning equipment without damaging them.
Another major problem is that air conditioning on trains would likely heat up platforms even more as the hot air needs to be vented. TfL has attempted to cool things down a bit via larger ventilation shafts, better fans and mechanical chillers at the busiest stations but, as we know, the network is still largely unbearable. For now, make sure to double up on deodorant as the sweat is here to stay!
Which London Underground lines have air con?
Only a handful of Tube lines have air conditioning. These include:
- Circle
- Hammersmith & City
- District
- Metropolitan
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