Sarah Harte: Sun-soaked West Cork solstice celebrations pale beside heatwave in Europe

Summer is no longer just a carefree season of leisure, it’s becoming a period of real environmental danger, writes Sarah Harte

A woman drinks from a drinking fountain in Greenwich Park, London after a rare red warning for extreme heat was issued in the UK last month. What has become palpably clear this summer, when temperatures have broken records across Europe, is that we are unequipped to withstand the effects of human-made climate change.

Summer spells freedom. Days stretch into each other, and longer, sultry nights, with fewer clothes, give licence to hang loose.

To have that glass of Rosé on a weekday night or ‘Rosé à la piscine’, which, according to a Sunday supplement, the smart set are drinking. Side note: if you fret about not keeping up with Metropolitan Londoners, immediately begin dropping ice cubes into your wine.