Heatwave: Met Office issues four day warning for extreme heat

The Met Office forecast for Thursday.   (Met Office)
The Met Office forecast for Thursday. (Met Office)

The Met Office has announced a four-day amber weather warning for extreme heat in parts of England and Wales later this week.

The warning will come into effect on Thursday and last until 11.59 pm on Sunday.

The heat is likely to impact vulnerable people’s health while the wider population may be affected by sunburn, dehydration, nausea and fatigue among other heat related illnesses, it warned.

More people are likely to visit lakes, rivers and the sea meaning there is an increased risk around water safety, and there is also an increased risk of fire-related incidents, the Met Office said.

Some changes to working practices and daily routines are likely to be required, while there was an increased chance that some heat-sensitive equipment may fail, it added.

It’s possible the country will see delays on roads, rail and air.

Temperatures are expected to soar this week and could peak at 35C or even an isolated 36C on Saturday, the Met Office has said.

The hottest areas of the country are expected to be in central and southern England and Wales on Friday and Saturday.

Elsewhere temperatures will reach the high 20s and low 30s later this week as an area of high pressure extends over much of the country.

The UK Health Security Agency has said it will issue a Level 3 heat-health alert for all regions of England starting at midday on Tuesday and lasting until the end of the week.

The new warning comes after the UK broke all-time temperature records last month with Coningsby in Lincolnshire measuring 40.3C.

Extreme Heat warnings will in be place in for parts of England and Wales later this week. (Met Office)
Extreme Heat warnings will in be place in for parts of England and Wales later this week. (Met Office)

Climate scientists have said human-caused global heating is making heatwaves longer, drier and hotter and will only continue to do so as humans emit more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Last month, scientists said the climate crisis made the UK’s extreme heat recorded in July at least 10 times more likely and said extreme temperatures in Western Europe are rising faster than climate models predicted.

One scientist has estimated that nearly 1,000 people could have died due to the high temperatures during July’s heatwave.

And last week, statistics published by the Office of National Statistics showed that the number of deaths registered during the week of the heatwave in England and Wales was nearly 20 per cent higher than the five-year average.

Although at this stage it’s difficult to estimate how much of that increase will be due to heat-related excess deaths.