‘It’s brutal’: Las Vegas cooks amid blazing heatwave – and it’s going to get worse

Tourists line the air-conditioned casino labyrinths amid record temperatures - but many locals are not able to take cover indoors

By midnight on Wednesday, two days into a scorching heat wave to hit the US west, the air in Las Vegas had barely cooled.

Throughout the day and for the days that followed, temperatures in the desert city hovered close to historic highs, peaking at 116 degrees Fahrenheit (46.6 Celsius), and setting a new record for such dangerously hot weather so early in the year. Meanwhile, dust and smoke from nearby wildfires hung in the stiff hot air, casting a brown haze over the valley.