There was some gentle teasing of the Guardian yesterday as they ran a liveblog of the heatwave. The blog charted temperatures and asked readers to write in with their keep cool tips.
Unfortunately, nobody was able to provide a tip big enough to cool their King’s Place offices.
At 15:15, Guardian journalist Saptarshi Ray tweeted about the air conditioning:
Excellent, the air con’s malfunctioned at Guardian Towers. On the hottest day ever. With no openable windows. Gonna be hot as a husband. #fb
— Saptarshi Ray (@Saptarshi_Ray) July 1, 2015
And at 15:54, the liveblog went down as the Guardian servers overheated:
By 16:17, the offices were cleared of staff:
Current vibe of everyone leaving Guardian office en masse so system doesn’t meltdown: Snow day in year 6.
— Laura Kay (@lauraelizakay) July 1, 2015
16:34, and journalists retired to the pub.
Computers down at Guardian towers: have been forced to repair to local hostelry with @graemewearden for Greek vino. pic.twitter.com/A5NLBhN5ag
— Heather Stewart (@heatherstewart3) July 1, 2015
Others went for ice cream:
The Guardian’s systems have gone into meltdown. This means I get to finish my shift early and go home. Wahey! pic.twitter.com/1yFoOcpKSv
— Nicola Slawson (@Nicola_Slawson) July 1, 2015
And a second Guardian liveblog suffered, as chief sports correspondent Owen Gibson noted at 18:25:
Surely the briefest live blog Scott Murray has ever helmed, due to server meltdown at Guardian Towers: https://t.co/7q3VpZgC17
— Owen Gibson (@owen_g) July 1, 2015
Good luck today, Guardian. This mole is relying on your rolling Greece coverage.