Old British fridges 'cannot cope with the heat'
As Britain braces itself for another hot week, experts are warning that many fridges in UK homes and supermarkets are unable to cope with the
As Britain braces itself for another hot week, experts are warning that many fridges in UK homes and supermarkets are unable to cope with the sort of record-breaking temperatures we have been experiencing. Bristol-based refrigeration expert Dr Alan Foster said the appliances were "designed decades ago in a much cooler world".
Fridges are typically designed to operate in air temperatures up to about 32C. When temperatures rise above that – as they did last week and may again next week – they can struggle to stay cool or fail completely.
Shoppers in Somerset and Bristol reported supermarket fridges switched off and empty, while engineers in Wiltshire reported record call-outs to home fridges that have "given up
the ghost". As the Met Office warns that heatwaves are becoming more common in the UK, the question is whether the nation's fridges can keep up.
The BriefWire