Drivers cooling down in stationary vehicles to be fined if police catch them doing one factor
Brits taking to their cars in an attempted to cooldown during the latest heatwave could face heft fines due to emissions laws clamping down on idle drivers who keep their engine on
Some Brits could face fines if they are caught cooling off in the car (Stock)(Image: Getty Images)
Drivers seeking to cooldown by sitting in stationary cars with the air conditioning on are being warned they could be fined under emissions laws.
The RAC said remaining in a vehicle with its engine idling causes air pollution. The standard fine is £40 if caught by a police officer or £80 from a civil enforcement officer. Both are halved if paid quickly. But some local authorities use their powers to impose larger fines.
In London, Islington Council said its enforcement officers issue £110 fines to people who refuse to switch off an idling engine after being asked. RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said: “Air conditioning is a gamechanger in modern vehicles, making otherwise uncomfortable journeys by road a genuinely pleasant experience.
“We even advise those driving vehicles without air-con to consider delaying any non-essential trips this week until the heatwave passes.
“But while we’re all desperate to stay cool, just sitting in the car with the engine and air-conditioning running and going nowhere isn’t advisable. Due to the air pollution this causes, you risk a fine from a police or civil enforcement officer.”
In 2019, the Conservative government announced plans to introduce higher fines for drivers who idle, but this never took place. Lord Chris Grayling, then-transport secretary, said at the time that combating idling would be “an easy way to drive down dangerously high levels of pollution”.
The development comes as the Met Office has issued another warning for extreme heat across the UK, with Brits bracing themselves for sweltering conditions as temperatures could reach 40C.
This week has seen temperatures skyrocket due to a “heat-dome” settling over western Europe, bringing severe conditions across the continent.
The highest temperatures are anticipated for today and Thursday, with red warnings already in place by the Met Office. However, the national weather agency has now added an additional amber warning for Friday and Saturday. Grahame Madge, a spokesperson for the Met Office, stated: “We have issued another amber warning for eastern and central England for Friday.”
As the forecast continues to evolve we may need to issue further updates once more detail becomes clear,” reports the Mirror.
Areas facing the new amber alert on Friday include:
East Midlands
- Derby
- Derbyshire
- Leicester
- Leicestershire
- Lincolnshire
- Northamptonshire
- Nottingham
- Nottinghamshire
- Rutland
East of England
- Bedford
- Cambridgeshire
- Central Bedfordshire
- Essex
- Hertfordshire
- Luton
- Norfolk
- Peterborough
- Southend-on-Sea
- Suffolk
- Thurrock
West Midlands
- Shropshire
- Staffordshire
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Telford and Wrekin
- Warwickshire
- West Midlands Conurbation
- Worcestershire
Yorkshire & Humber
- North East Lincolnshire
- North Lincolnshire
- South Yorkshire
London & South East England
- Bracknell Forest
- Brighton and Hove
- Buckinghamshire
- East Sussex
- Greater London
- Hampshire
- Kent
- Medway
- Milton Keynes
- Oxfordshire
- Reading
- Slough
- Surrey
- West Berkshire
- West Sussex
- Windsor and Maidenhead
- Wokingham
North West England
- Cheshire East
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Greater Manchester
- Halton
- Merseyside
- Warrington
South West England
- Gloucestershire
The agency added that the amber warning extends into Saturday for parts of east and south-east England on Saturday. Temperatures will be a few degrees cooler than the previous days, but are still expected to exceed 30C widely in the area, which stretches from the Sussex coast to Lincolnshire, peaking around 32C to 34C in London or East Anglia, the weather service said.
Night temperatures are unlikely to fall below the high teens Celsius for most, with some places probably still in the low 20C, while high humidity will continue, the Met Office said.
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