Woman handed £2,000 cleaning bill after Prosecco bottle explodes in hot car

Just in case you were thinking of putting your feet up and leaving unloading that shopping until later on, you might want to think again after an exploding bottle caused by soaring temperatures led to an eyewatering bill.

As the UK basks in the hottest temperatures it has seen all year, with temperatures rising to 31C, one woman has shared a cautionary tale about the dangers of leaving bottles of fizz unattended in hot cars.

Birmingham resident Jessica McCance took to Tik Tok to joke about the “the priciest bottle she never got to drink”, after a bottle of Prosecco exploded in her vehicle, drenching the seats and sending shards of glass ripping through the lining of the car roof. A quote to remedy the interior damage, also shared on the social media site, came to £2,258, including VAT, which has left McCance and many of her followers wincing in its wake.

The Tik Tok clip, which has amassed more than 100,000 views, was captioned: “Never ever leave a bottle of Prosecco in a hot car.”

According to Vinepair’s Dr. Vinny “The pressure inside a bottle of bubbly is somewhere between 70 and 90 pounds per square inch— about three times the air pressure inside a car’s tires.”

The thicker the glass, the more pressure the bottle can withstand. However, with many producers making the switch to more lightweight bottles as part of their sustainability drive, our fizz may be at greater risk of going bang in the heat.

With more of us heading off to picnics, BBQs and even weddings this week following the long-awaited Freedom Day on Monday, it may be wise to pack a cool bag, or buy your sparkling wine closer to your destination.

After sharing her life lesson, some followers thanked McCance for the tip-off, with Ashleigh Louise commenting: “Thank you!! I’ve just took one out of my car.”

Others, however, thought the lofty cleaning bill was a bit rich: “For £2,200 I could live with the damage,” said Anay Makan.