Today, sunseekers are expected to rush to beaches and parks as Britain experiences its hottest day of the year for the third day in a row, with temperatures reaching 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) – possibly the hottest June day on record.
The hottest weather will be in the London area, after the warmest day of 2022 thus far with 29.5°C (85°F) in Northolt in the capital yesterday, which smashed the previous high of 28.2°C (82.7°F) set at Kew Gardens on Wednesday.
Temperatures are expected to rise even higher today, as a heatwave from Spain and Portugal brings temperatures as high as 34°C (93°F) in the South East, and between 27°C (81°F) and 30°C in the remainder of England and Wales (86F).
It means that portions of the UK will be hotter than Jamaica and the Maldives, although residents of Northern Ireland, North West England, and Scotland should expect lower temperatures and showers. Heavy rain and high gusts were so bad north of the border today that Network Rail put a speed limit on the West Highland Line.
However, there’s a chance today may be the warmest June day on record in Britain, with the current record of 35.6C (96.1F) established in London on June 29, 1957, and Southampton on June 28, 1976.
Temperatures in South East England reached 23 degrees Fahrenheit (73 degrees Fahrenheit) at London City Airport at 7 a.m., and are expected to rise to around 27 degrees Fahrenheit (81 degrees Fahrenheit) by 10 a.m., 32 degrees Fahrenheit (90 degrees Fahrenheit) at 2 p.m., and 34 degrees Fahrenheit (93 degrees Fahrenheit) later in the afternoon.
Many regions of the UK are also expecting a beautiful Saturday, with temperatures in the South East expected to reach 26°C (79°F) tomorrow before dipping to a considerably cooler high of 21°C (70°F) on Sunday.
‘Heat-related health problems include direct impacts like heat stroke and cardiovascular failure, as well as indirect ones like poor mental health and an increase in accidents like automobile accidents and drownings.’
After the Met Office and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued a Level Three heat-health notice for majority of the South East, healthcare workers have been warned to prepare for how the hot weather would affect patients.
Southern and central England are currently under a Level Two heat-health alert, while northern England is still on Level One.
The Level Three notice, according to Agostinho Sousa, head of severe events and health protection at the UKHSA, aims to assist defend the NHS.
‘The Level 3 warning, termed ‘heatwave action,’ is active,’ said Dr. Sousa. It’s to let our partners know that they should prepare their services for expected demand spikes when temperatures rise.
‘We also have a Level 2 that is now operational in the South West and East of England, and it is informing our partners that they should ready their services in case we need to go into action if temperatures rise.’
‘For the time being, the situation is steady, and temperatures are expected to decline tomorrow.’
The scorching weather has been fueled in part by a natural build-up of heat in the UK, which has been aided by clear sky and dry land. Warmer air from Europe has also had a role, resulting in today’s ‘crescendo.’
‘We have warmer air being carried up from further south in Europe where there has been a large heat event, notably in Iberia, so that’s contributing to the type of crescendo we’ll see on Friday,’ said Met Office spokesperson Grahame Madge.
‘The tension is increasing day by day. Although there is some uncertainty, we believe that the weather temperatures will peak on Friday, and then we will have a milder day on Saturday.
‘Climate change has raised the average temperature of UK summers, and it is also increasing the risk of experiencing more severe temperatures,’ said Dr Mark McCarthy, head of the Met Office’s National Climate Information Centre.
‘A temperature of 34°C in June is an unusual, though not exceptional, occurrence in the UK’s historical climate data. However, if it happens this week, it will be the third time in the previous six Junes that it has happened.
‘Much cooler for Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the far north of England,’ he continued, adding that temperatures might be lower than Thursday due to a cold front moving in from the west.
‘It’s expected to produce a significant amount of rain [today] for western Scotland in particular, as well as some heavy and persistent rain here, as well as outbreaks of rain for Northern Ireland and the rest of Scotland, and pushing into northern England.’
‘(It will be) fizzing out for a while before an area of low pressure sweeps up from the south at the start of the weekend and interacts with the huge temperature disparity between the scorching South and the chilly North West.’
‘And in regions near this weather front, those elements might result in some big thunderstorms, as well as some significant rain outbreaks.’
‘At the moment, it seems like we’ll have some heavy rain and a big decrease in temperatures in central portions of the UK on Saturday.’ Temperatures will drop throughout the weekend, indicating a cooling trend, and we’ll also see some significant rain.
‘This low [weather front] will begin to strike the UK from the South West and its West and South-Western coastlines, where the heaviest and most persistent rain is most likely to occur on Sunday. Northern Ireland, southern Scotland, and northern England might all be affected.’
Highs of 26.1°C (79°F) were reported in Cardiff yesterday, 21.4°C (70.5°F) in Edinburgh, and 20.6°C (69.1°F) in Derrylin, Northern Ireland.
Other scientists, some of whom blame the heat on climate change, have issued warnings about the perils of the hot weather.
‘Despite government warnings, some individuals still underestimate the impacts of heat and do not adjust their plans to account for it,’ said Professor Hannah Cloke of the University of Reading.
‘We need to think about how people respond to the present warnings and keep improving them.’ A warning system that is ignored is practically useless.
‘Thousands of people in the UK have already died as a result of excessive heat, and climate change will only make heatwaves more often and extreme in the future.’ Let us not wait till someone dies before taking heatwaves seriously.’