AS a national emergency was declared across England earlier in the week due to the unprecedented heatwave, emergency services across the country were strained. 

London's fire and rescue emergency services saw response times increase from 8 minutes to 20 as they were dealing with a surge in blazes across the capital in 40 degree heat.

According to The Guardian, the capital's fire service faced its busiest day since the second world war as the service coped with the scorching temperatures. 

Thankfully however in Cumbria, as temperatures reached 34 degrees on Tuesday July 19 , this strain was not felt to the same extent as perhaps originally thought. 

Whilst NHS leaders warned there would be greater demand for ambulances and patients, North Cumbria Integrated Care Trust has indicated that whilst across the board emergency services are exceptionally busy, they have not "seen an increase yet due to the heatwave". 

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Cumbria's Police and Crime Commissioner, Peter McCall, said: "Of course anyone having to work in extreme temperatures puts a strain on workers and calls for service for protecting people and those getting into difficulty in water is always a problem. This week though, there wasn't a huge additional burden on the police. 

"Anyone in the public services, whether it be police, fire and NHS, it's what they do, they have to work through these extremes and they're a 24 hour service, which they do incredibly well. But certainly for us here in Cumbria, the emergency services, as far as I'm aware, coped very well," he said. 

A spokesperson from Carlisle East Fire Station said: "There were certainly a few more grass fires and the likes but nothing compared to what was going on in London. We will now be turning our attention to target and prevent as many incidents in relation to wild-water swimming as we can, especially with schools breaking up." 

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