As Wales experiences its hottest day on record and ahead of predicted record temperature highs for the UK, Greenpeace UK’s head of politics, Rebecca Newsom, said:

“As the mercury reaches record highs today, those vying to be the next Prime Minister should be setting out their plans for tackling the climate crisis – and the increasing number of deadly heatwaves and floods that come with it. Instead, candidates appear more inclined to bury their heads in the sand, in a desperate attempt to ignore the blisteringly hot, record breaking elephant in the room.

“Political inaction has driven this crisis under the Conservative government’s watch. The next Prime Minister has an opportunity to tackle it and cut soaring household bills by transitioning the UK away from fossil fuels, boosting cheap renewables and greening our homes. And a proper plan to increase our resilience to extreme weather events would avoid haemorrhaging votes at the next election. We need a Prime Minister willing to put climate action at the top of the agenda but, so far, despite the searing heat, we’ve barely even had warm words from the candidates.”