Inside the cold store where it's -18C in a heatwave

BBC Four men wearing thermal hi-vis suits, woolly hats and gloves stand side by side in a large warehouse-type cold storage building.BBC
Magnavale is one of the UK's largest cold storage facilities and employs about 160 people

It's sweltering outside, but I'm wearing a woolly hat, gloves and thermal suit, as I'm about to head inside one of the UK's biggest cold storage facilities.

Temperatures at Magnavale, near Grantham, drop as low as -18C (0F), making it arguably one of the coolest places to be during a heatwave.

The chilly air hits me the moment I enter. A slick-looking production line runs inside, with vehicles whizzing about and lots of people wearing high-vis clothing.

"I personally think it's a great place to work when it's really hot outside," says site manager John Edgoose, who has worked here for 26 years.

A man with a mop of blonde hair smiles as he stands in a large warehouse-type cold storage facility with rows of low and high shelves behind him. He is wearing an orange high-vis vest over a grey shirt.
John Edgoose has been working in the industry since the age of 24

Magnavale supplies frozen food to major supermarkets. As we take a tour, it feels like stepping inside my kitchen freezer.

"That's exactly what it is – a giant version," Edgoose, 60, says.

He describes Magnavale as one of the UK's largest cold storage facilities, with capacity for 145,000 pallets.

The busy operation has to run like clockwork, as about 200 lorries will arrive to collect products every day.

"The UK survives on frozen food, it's a big industry," he explains.

BBC/Joe Bilton The Magnavale plant - a large warehouse building clad in white blue and grey with a distribution point at the front for HGV trailers and several smeller buildings. It is set in green fields under a blue sky.BBC/Joe Bilton
The site works 24 hours a day, seven days a week

The cold store is kept at -18C to comply with UK legislation.

Edgoose says the icy temperatures are especially great during a spell of hot weather and the staff have "probably got the best job at the moment".

"Come the winter, it's a little bit more challenging for them getting here in freezing temperatures [when] it's freezing in there," he adds.

We make our way out of the cold storage area and back into the blazing heat of the loading yard.

Kyle Reidy, a 34-year-old member of staff, follows us out, still wearing his thermal gear under the sweltering sun.

He has worked here for 18 years and says he has acclimatised to the temperature.

A man with a brown beard stands in a yard on a sunny day while wearing a green woolly hat and a yellow and green coat. HGVs can be seen behind him and the sky is blue.
Kyle Reidy says he misses the chilly temperatures when he returns home

"I really like the cold. I can't go on any nice holidays anywhere too warm because you just don't enjoy it," he says with a laugh.

The facility employs about 160 people and Reidy says he sometimes misses the brisk temperatures when he returns home.

"Even after a 12-hour shift, sometimes you think I'd rather still be in the cold," he adds.

The UK has faced record-breaking temperatures for June, with a high of 36.4C (94F) provisionally recorded in Yeovilton, Somerset, on Thursday.

According to the Met Office, temperatures could reach 34C in Gainsborough later.

But workers at Magnavale say the toasty temperatures are quickly forgotten about in their daily sub-zero workplace.

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