THE REASON this heatwave feels worse is simple: it is not just the heat, it is the lack of relief.

High daytime temperatures are difficult enough. But when humidity rises and nights stay warm, the body has less chance to recover. That is when a hot spell becomes a public health concern.

Britain is still poor at dealing with heat. We treat it as a novelty, not a risk. Schools, care homes, workplaces and public transport are often badly prepared. Many homes are built to retain warmth in winter, not stay cool in summer.

That may once have been a minor inconvenience. It is now becoming a serious weakness.

This week’s conditions show the problem clearly. Humid air makes sweating less effective, so people can overheat more quickly. Warm nights mean poor sleep, dehydration and extra strain, particularly for older people, babies and those with existing health conditions.

For Pembrokeshire and the rest of Wales, this is not an abstract climate issue. It affects farm workers, tourism staff, delivery drivers, school pupils, hospital patients and care home residents. It affects water use, roads, public services and emergency planning.

Climate change does not mean every hot day is caused by global warming. But it does mean extreme heat is becoming more likely and more severe. A warmer atmosphere can also hold more moisture, making some heatwaves feel more oppressive than the dry heat people may remember from the past.

The response cannot be limited to warnings about drinking water and staying out of the sun. Those messages matter, but they are not enough.

Councils, health boards, schools and employers need proper heat plans. Buildings need better ventilation and shade. Vulnerable people need checking on. Outdoor and indoor workers need sensible protection.

Heatwaves are no longer rare summer talking points.

They are part of the climate Wales now has to plan for.

As HS2 balloons towards £100bn with fresh delays, the case for fair rail funding for Pembrokeshire and west Wales has never been stronger

THE MOST absurd aspect of HS2 is no longer just its eye-watering cost. It is the sheer scale of the broken promises — and the fact that Wales is still expected to help foot the bill while seeing almost none of the benefit.

Once hailed as a high-speed revolution connecting London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, HS2 has shrunk dramatically. The Manchester and Leeds legs are gone. The line may run slower than planned. Euston station remains uncertain. And the first passengers may not board until the late 2030s.

When people see photographs of vast HS2 works stretching into open countryside, it is easy to understand why many now ask whether Britain has spent tens of billions building infrastructure for a railway that no longer knows where it is going.

Latest estimates put the cost at between £87.7bn and £102.7bn. Billions have already been spent on structures, junctions and works linked to routes that no longer exist. What remains is a shorter, slower, vastly more expensive project than the one sold to the public over a decade ago.

Yet Wales is still counted in the “England and Wales” project.

This is the bitterest pill. No HS2 track reaches Wales. No station serves us. No journey times from Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire or Ceredigion are transformed. Commuters on the line from Milford Haven to Cardiff still battle ageing rolling stock, unreliable services and Victorian-era infrastructure that feels a world away from “high-speed Britain.”

The Treasury’s defence — that rail infrastructure is not devolved and HS2 benefits the wider England-and-Wales network — has always stretched credibility. Today, with the project scaled back, it looks untenable.

Scotland and Northern Ireland receive Barnett consequentials from HS2 spending. Wales, despite having no HS2 line, does not.

Independent estimates and repeated calls from Welsh politicians and parliamentary committees have long suggested Wales is owed billions in fair-share funding. Figures in the region of £4bn to £5bn have been cited — money that could upgrade west Wales lines, improve reliability, add capacity and modernise stations.

Local reality check

Would anyone in Pembroke Dock, Haverfordwest or Fishguard seriously claim they have gained from HS2?

When services are disrupted by signalling faults, track defects or rolling stock shortages, the idea that west Wales is already “benefiting” from a London-to-Birmingham railway rings hollow. Pembrokeshire’s rail connections remain among the most challenging in the UK, limiting economic opportunities, tourism and daily commutes.

This is not anti-rail investment. Britain needs better infrastructure. The problem is fairness.

Successive governments talk of “levelling up” and rebalancing the economy, yet Wales consistently receives a disproportionately low share of rail enhancement spending relative to need.

At a time when HS2 has become a symbol of mismanagement for many, telling Welsh taxpayers they have already had their share — while our own services lag — fuels a deeper sense of being at the back of the queue. It risks feeding cynicism about how Westminster treats Wales.

The solution is straightforward.

If HS2 is genuinely an England-and-Wales project delivering meaningful benefits here, show us the railway.

If not, reclassify it and deliver the Barnett consequentials Wales is owed.

That money could fund real improvements: better frequencies on the west Wales line, electrification, station upgrades and resilience works that actually touch Pembrokeshire communities.

Westminster must stop pretending. Local MPs, the Welsh Government and campaigners should keep pressing this case — because transport fairness is economic fairness.

Pembrokeshire deserves better than being asked to pay into a project that delivers its rewards somewhere else.

This is not the time to turn our backs on jobs, security and our proud defence heritage

PEMBROKESHIRE is once again being asked a simple question: do we want to be a county that helps shape Britain’s future, or one that says no to opportunity when it matters most?

The growing row over the proposed DARC project at Brawdy has generated more heat than light in recent days. With Eluned Morgan now calling for the scheme to be paused because of Donald Trump, and campaigners demanding it be scrapped altogether, it is worth stepping back from the noise and looking at what is really at stake.

Of course people are right to be alarmed by some of Trump’s behaviour. His rhetoric, his antics, and his bizarre attempts to wrap politics in religious theatre deserve criticism, ridicule even. If politicians want to condemn that kind of behaviour, fair enough. But serious decisions about Pembrokeshire’s future cannot be based on one man’s latest stunt.

Trump will not be President forever. By the time DARC is fully built, operational and delivering benefits, he will almost certainly be long gone. To throw away a major long-term opportunity for Pembrokeshire because of short-term panic over a single US President would be a serious mistake.

What is being proposed at Brawdy is not some passing political gimmick. It is a major defence and infrastructure project that would help secure the future of an existing military base, create jobs during construction, support permanent roles once operational, and ensure Pembrokeshire continues to play a serious role in national security.

That matters.

For this county, DARC is not an abstract foreign policy argument. It is a chance to protect the long-term future of a strategic site that has served Britain for decades. It is a chance to keep Brawdy alive, relevant and useful in a changing world, rather than letting it slowly drift into uncertainty and decline.

It is also a jobs issue, however much opponents try to talk that down. Construction work means contracts, wages and money circulating in the local economy. Once complete, the site would still need to be run, maintained, secured and supported. In a county where stable, skilled jobs are never to be sniffed at, that should matter to every sensible politician.

And then there is the wider issue of safety.

We are living in a more unstable world. Space is no longer some distant science-fiction sideshow. It is central to communications, intelligence, navigation and defence. Any country that cannot see what is happening above it is leaving itself dangerously exposed. Supporting DARC is not warmongering. It is common sense. It is about readiness, awareness and protecting the systems modern life now depends on.

Much of the argument against the project has been emotional. We hear a great deal about appearance, about symbolism, about fears of what the radar might represent. But leadership means weighing those concerns against reality. Pembrokeshire cannot afford to reject every major development on the basis that change makes people uncomfortable.

There is an uncomfortable truth here for DARC’s opponents. Protecting Pembrokeshire is not just about preserving a postcard view. It is also about protecting livelihoods, maintaining strategic assets, and making sure this county does not become a beautiful but economically sidelined corner of Wales where every serious opportunity is driven away.

A live military base with a renewed purpose is better than a fading one with none.

A project that brings jobs, investment and national relevance is better than managed decline dressed up as moral virtue.

And a serious defence asset in west Wales is better than the slow erosion of infrastructure while politicians pretend symbolism pays wages.

This newspaper understands why people care deeply about Pembrokeshire’s landscape and identity. So do we. But we also understand that counties survive by adapting, by staying useful, and by having the confidence to back projects that serve both local and national interests.

DARC does all of those things.

It would bring construction jobs. It would help sustain long-term operational roles. It would preserve the use of an important military base. And it would place Pembrokeshire at the heart of a serious national security project at a time when the world is becoming less safe, not more.

What Pembrokeshire needs now is not panic, hedging, or election-time theatrics. It needs backbone.

If politicians want to criticise Donald Trump, they are welcome to do so. But they should not use him as an excuse to duck a decision that could benefit Pembrokeshire for decades to come.

Trump is temporary.

The opportunity for Pembrokeshire is not.