It was to be one of those spectacular events that attract plenty of free media and get a strong message across. But Lloyd’s planned unveiling of a three-metre ice globe in London’s Square Mile – designed to illustrate the effects of global warming – had to be cancelled because the weather right now is unusually hot.

Lloyd’s also wanted to highlight a major conference on global warming – an issue now very close to insurers’ hearts – by making the point that a piece of ice 500 times bigger than the ice globe melts every second in Greenland.

Although the sculpture was estimated to take three to five days to melt, the current London heatwave meant it wouldn’t last long at all.

“Due to the extreme weather generated by the current level 2 heatwave announced by the Met Office yesterday and forecast to continue into this week, we were concerned about the potential stability of the structure,” Lloyd’s spokesman Steve Farrance said.

“Unfortunately, after assessing the conditions to build the globe on Sunday, we decided not to proceed.”

However, the cancellation has still gained considerable media attention, which means Lloyd’s has achieved its PR aims without spending a single penny.