How heat is affecting a butcher, baker and candlemaker

From school closures and melting tarmac to cancelled sports clubs and disrupted rail services, the scorching heat is just about affecting everything and everyone.

In London and parts of south-east England, a rare red weather warning for extreme heat is in place, which means there is a risk of serious illness and a danger to life.

Suffolk is currently covered by an amber weather warning, with temperatures set to soar to as high as 38C (100F), according to the Met Office.

But to what extent is the heat making life difficult for the county's butchers, bakers, and candlemakers, if at all?

Alastair Angus, owner of Thurston Butchers, says hot weather can actually be good for his business – just as long as it does not get too hot.

"It's busy because we find that people are outside a lot more, cooking outside, and the trade certainly goes up when it's hot like this," he said.

"But there's a fine balance - I find between 22 and 28C is the perfect temperature that most people want to barbecue in.

"When it gets to sort of 30C and upwards, people get put off and it goes the other way slightly and people just want to eat less or have more salads."

Thurston Butchers is kitted out with air conditioning and large fridges, so Angus and his team can "pretty much keep operating as normal".

But they still have to be mindful of what the weather is doing.

"If the weather just drops off overnight and we've made a lot of barbecue stuff, that's a nightmare for us," he added.

"So, we're constantly keeping tabs and monitoring our stock coming in because of that. It's a constant battle."

Will Wooster, owner of Wooster's Bakery, in Bury St Edmunds and Stanton, has been shutting up shop a little earlier this week due to the weather causing a "dip in sales".

"People have got less of an appetite," he said. "They don't want to come out as much, which is sort of understandable.

"So, there's no point putting our front-of-house team through that and having them hang around in 35C heat potentially not to see anyone."

Despite previously having a "big cooler" installed, Wooster added that when the sun hits the production site, "you do feel it".

"Baking is generally associated with being hot and sweaty work, and the team are dealing with it really well," he said.

"But it is hot in there, particularly by the ovens. So, if we are baking in the hot part of the day, we have people swap to make sure everyone's taken out of the heat for a bit."

Jill Edwards started the Ruby Grace Candle Co. in Eye in 2017 when she decided to pursue her passion after being made redundant from her job.

She mostly makes container candles and said that cold weather actually proved more of an issue for her than the sweltering heat we are all having to endure.

"They do take longer to set in this heat but if the weather's very cold I have to bring the heat up in our workshop so they don't set too quickly," she said.

"A slow set is actually better and that's what the heat does encourage. So making them in this weather is not an issue."

Edwards does, however, say that selling her candles outdoors during the heights of summer at a market, for example, is her "biggest challenge".

"Once you put candles out on display, and if they're in direct sunlight, when you are getting up to 30C or above, they don't melt," she said.

"But what you notice is the oils you've used to fragrance them start to rise to the top slightly and you get a sheen across the top and they don't look as beautiful.

"We always say to our customers to not have them on windowsills in this sort of heat - they're not going to spontaneously combust, but they will soften a lot."

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