Bus drivers at National Express in the West Midlands are working in cab temperatures that reach 40°C (104°F) as Britain weathers successive heatwaves, with passengers collapsing on board and drivers reporting that air conditioning across the fleet is inadequate (The Guardian).

Three unnamed drivers, each with more than 20 years of service, described the conditions inside their cabs as unbearable. The UK has experienced three heatwaves since late spring, with temperatures topping 37°C and June 2026 producing the hottest June day on record. The Met Office — the UK's national weather service — warned in July that such climate extremes are becoming the "new normal" for the country (The Guardian).

Unite, the trade union representing the National Express drivers, has been raising alarms since at least June. A press release dated 23 June 2026, titled "Urgent action needed for bus drivers as red weather warning hits UK," stated that cab temperatures can "often exceed 40 degrees" (Unite the Union). The union attributes the severity of the heat to the large glass windows that trap warmth and create a "greenhouse effect" inside the driver compartment — similar to how a parked car heats up far beyond the outside temperature on a sunny day (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, a consequence that lifts the issue beyond workplace discomfort into the territory of public safety.

National Express responded by granting West Midlands drivers an additional 30-minute break to cope with the heat. However, many employees were unaware of the policy, and among those who did know, there was concern about potential impacts on pay and service levels (The Guardian).

The political response is now taking shape 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 establish a maximum workplace temperature — a measure the UK currently lacks (The Guardian).

The broader context here connects to the UK's evolving approach to how bus services are run. Andy Burnham, now serving as prime minister, previously brought Manchester's buses under local public control as franchises when he was mayor. In a franchising model, the local transport authority sets the operational standards — including workplace conditions — rather than leaving those decisions to private companies. The West Midlands, where National Express operates, has not yet adopted this approach. The current crisis will likely intensify scrutiny of whether private operators can or will invest in the infrastructure upgrades needed to protect drivers and passengers during extreme heat.

The Met Office's "new normal" framing carries significant weight for the transport sector. If successive heatwaves above 37°C become a recurring pattern rather than an anomaly, the absence of a legal maximum workplace temperature becomes increasingly difficult to justify — particularly for enclosed, glass-heavy environments like bus cabs. Spencer's bill, if it progresses, would address a gap that has existed for decades in UK employment law, where minimum temperature protections are written into statute but no equivalent ceiling exists for heat.

For the drivers themselves, the immediate question is whether the additional break policy is being communicated and implemented consistently, or whether it remains a measure on paper only. The gap between National Express's formal response and the reported experience on the ground — drivers unaware of the entitlement, passengers losing consciousness — suggests that policy and practice are diverging under operational pressure. Unite's framing of "profits before people" is contested language, but it points to a structural tension: retrofitting fleets with effective air conditioning and modifying the glass in driver cabs are capital expenditures that private operators may resist without regulatory pressure.

The convergence of three forces — intensifying climate extremes, a national political appetite for stronger workplace protections, and the precedent of public franchising in Manchester — places the West Midlands bus network at a pivot point. Whether that pivot produces legislative change, franchise reform, or only incremental operator concessions may depend on how Spencer's bill is received when parliament returns and whether the next heatwave arrives before the current policy gaps are addressed.