Wimbledon was hit by its hottest day of the Championships so far on Sunday as temperatures climbed towards 30C, turning SW19 into a sweltering test of endurance for players, officials and spectators alike.
Attendees used fans and umbrellas to cope with the heat as they queued from the early hours to watch players including Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka.
Players were offered specialised ice towels on court to help cool off and more than 100 water stations were dotted across the grounds for spectators.
Temperatures soared towards 30 degrees for the first time this Championships, as a yellow heat health alert was issued for London by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) until 8pm next Saturday.
Wimbledon operations director Michelle Dite said organisers had stepped up welfare measures but stressed that spectators also needed to take responsibility for coping with the conditions.
She said: ‘It’s about people preparing for their day. It’s about putting your sun cream on, about bringing your own water. We let people bring their own water in, their own food and drink. It’s about taking time out and asking people to take some responsibility.’
She added: ‘We have upped our shade and shelter here for the public. A lot of people will go and sit and get some cooler air in the restaurants, for example, but we encourage people to take personal responsibility.’
Spectators used fans and umbrellas to cope with the heat as they queued from the early hours to watch players
Temperatures soared towards 30 degrees for the first time this Championships, as a yellow heat health alert was issued for London
Ms Dite said Wimbledon continued to invest in long-term infrastructure changes as extreme heat becomes more common in British summers.
‘We’re always trying to make sure that we can provide as much shade and shelter as we can, not just for our temporary structures but also when we’re doing permanent upgrades here.
‘We’ve got our own retractable roof on the Tea Lawn, we’ve got cover down in the Southern Village, we’ve got cover now for the Hill. Every year we’re looking to improve it. It’s been working really, really well and it’s something we continue to focus on.’
Winston Sedgwick, the assistant manager of the court services team, said that his team is poised to help ball boys and girls who wilt in the heat.
‘One of the biggest challenges they have is the temperature,’ he said. Sedgwick said that last Thursday one of the ball boys on court 7 was escorted off court when they ‘become quite unsteady in the heat’.
‘Our team had to take her off, pack ice on her wrists, shade her, make sure she was drinking enough and look after her,’ he said.
‘That’s something we have to do and we’re quite happy to do it. And if the weather next week is to be like it was during the last heatwave, that would be something we’d be very, very involved in doing.’
It was also confirmed that for the first time this year Wimbledon has introduced handheld fans for sale on site, priced at £20, as demand for heat-relief items surged during the warm spell.
And it is even stretching resources to protect those in the heat in the queue and on the grounds – handing out hundreds of thousands of free sun cream samples as part of their partnership with La Roche-Posay
Wimbledon operations director Michelle Dite said organisers had stepped up welfare measures but stressed that spectators also needed to take responsibility for coping with the conditions
Sunday’s heat came close to triggering Wimbledon’s Extreme Heat Rule, which allows a 10-minute break during singles matches when the tournament’s heat stress index passes a set threshold.
The pause can be taken before the fourth set in men’s matches and ahead of the deciding third set in women’s singles, with officials using a combination of air temperature, humidity and court conditions rather than the thermometer alone to decide whether the rule comes into force.
The hottest day ever recorded at Wimbledon remains July 1, 2015, when temperatures reached a blistering 35.7C.
And it is even stretching resources to protect those in the heat in the queue and on the ground – handing out hundreds of thousands of free sun cream samples as part of their partnership with La Roche-Posay.
There is also an on-site pharmacy where you can buy a 50 SPF suncream for £27.50.
