Bus drivers at National Express in the West Midlands are working in cab temperatures that reach 40°C (104°F) as Britain goes through one heatwave after another. Passengers have collapsed on buses, and drivers say the air conditioning across the fleet is not good enough (The Guardian).

Three drivers, who were not named but each have more than 20 years of experience, described the conditions inside their cabs as unbearable. The UK has had three heatwaves since late spring, with temperatures topping 37°C. June 2026 produced the hottest June day on record. The Met Office, the UK's national weather service, warned in July that these kinds of climate extremes are becoming the "new normal" for the country (The Guardian).

Unite, the union that represents the National Express drivers, has been sounding the alarm since at least June. A press release dated 23 June 2026, titled "Urgent action needed for bus drivers as red weather warning hits UK," said that cab temperatures can "often exceed 40 degrees" (Unite the Union). The union says the large glass windows around the driver trap warmth and create a "greenhouse effect" — the same thing that happens when a car parked in the sun gets much hotter inside than the air outside (The Guardian).

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham accused bus operators of leaving drivers "sweltering during heatwaves, risking their own health and that of their passengers" and of putting "profits before people" (The Guardian). Drivers have reported passengers passing out on buses, which makes this more than just a comfort issue — it is a public safety concern.

National Express responded by giving West Midlands drivers an extra 30-minute break to cope with the heat. But many employees did not know about the policy, and among those who did, some worried it could affect their pay or service levels (The Guardian).

Politicians are now responding at both local and national levels. London mayor Sadiq Khan pledged further support for bus drivers during heatwaves in June 2026. In mid-July, Green MP Hannah Spencer announced she would introduce a bill in parliament to set a maximum workplace temperature. The UK currently does not have one (The Guardian).

The broader context here is about who controls bus services. Andy Burnham, now the prime minister, previously brought Manchester's buses under local public control when he was mayor. In that model, the local transport authority sets the standards for how buses are run, including workplace conditions, instead of leaving it to private companies. The West Midlands, where National Express operates, has not taken this step. The current crisis will likely lead to more questions about whether private companies will invest the money needed to protect drivers and passengers during extreme heat.

The Met Office's "new normal" warning matters a lot for the transport sector. If heatwaves above 37°C keep happening regularly, the lack of a legal maximum workplace temperature becomes harder to defend, especially in enclosed, glass-heavy spaces like bus cabs. Spencer's bill, if it moves forward, would fix a gap that has existed for decades in UK employment law: there are rules for minimum temperatures in workplaces, but no equivalent limit for heat.

For the drivers, the immediate question is whether the extra break policy is actually being communicated and used, or whether it is just something on paper. The gap between National Express's official response and what drivers are actually experiencing — not knowing about the break, passengers losing consciousness — suggests that what is supposed to happen and what does happen are pulling apart under pressure. Unite's "profits before people" language is contested, but it points to a real tension: upgrading buses with better air conditioning and changing the glass in driver cabs costs money, and private companies may resist spending it unless the law requires them to.

Three forces are coming together here: worsening climate extremes, growing political support for stronger workplace protections, and the example set by Manchester's publicly controlled bus system. Together, they put the West Midlands bus network at a turning point. What happens next — new laws, a change in how buses are run, or only small concessions from the operator — may depend on how Spencer's bill is received when parliament returns, and whether the next heatwave hits before the current gaps are fixed.