Referring to Wales’ heatwave in May, Gagen said it was “really unusual to have two in a row”.
“Actually, for me on a personal level, as I’m walking around, it feels like the first time in my life that I can physically feel climate change.
“And it’s quite frightening, actually. It’s an uncomfortable experience.”
Mary said the country would experience “tropical nights” caused by a “heat dome” effect.
“Each one of those events, whilst, sure, it’s a feature of a heatwave and we do get heatwaves in this country, each of them has a climate change element behind it that’s making it more intense,” she said.
“It’s preparedness, it’s having cool spaces in our cities. It’s having buildings that can cope with the heat.
“And we are really learning in this heat event that we are absolutely not prepared. We’re seeing school closures. If you are trying to manage ill people on a ward in our hospitals that doesn’t have air conditioning, you’re going to find this very uncomfortable.
“So, we really have a long way to go. Our infrastructure is absolutely not prepared for this.”
In response the Welsh government said it was “committed to addressing the climate emergency”.
“In line our manifesto and 100-day plan, we have begun work on a new Climate and Nature Plan which will set out the actions to realise our net zero 2040 ambition, and to ensure substantive nature recovery by 2050,” the statement added.
