We shouldn't raise a glass to the growth of English wine

Hull is tipped to be the new Bordeaux’ but the reasons behind it are nothing to be celebrated, argues Helen Coffey

- Helen Coffey

Remember that first post-pandemic summer? Not the newfound joy and freedom as we surged back into the world, basking in restriction-free living and hurling ourselves into “normal life” with a pent-up hedonism bordering on hysteria (memorable though that was). No, I’m talking about whether you recall the 40C-plus heatwave?

The July of 2022 saw the hottest temperatures ever recorded in the UK – the first time the mercury had officially risen above a ruby anniversary’s worth of degrees celsius. The Met Office issued the country’s first ever red extreme heat warning, and a national emergency was declared.

Though it should have gone without saying, these were not “aspirational” temperatures to be lusted after. For all that certain headlines shrieked “What a scorcher!” and the more pig-headed type of Brit determinedly insisted that they were “really enjoying” the kind of heat more often associated with the Marathon des Sables – the most notable example being the beetfaced man who went viral for sitting in a wheelie bin full of cold water while stubbornly pretending to be having the time of his life – it was neither “fun” nor “enjoyable”. It wasn’t even tolerable.

The heat hung heavy in the air like a shroud. At one point, I considered whether maybe I had in fact died, and then been relegated to the afterlife’s fiery hellscape.