As 6.3 million people embark on road trips, the UKHSA has issued a yellow heat health alert with a risk to life for the elderly and vulnerable
More than six million people are hitting the roads as the summer holidays begin – battling 30C temperatures and nose-to-tail traffic jams.
The AA predicts 6.3 million of us will make journeys between now and Thursday. Yellow heat health alerts are in place across much of the country until tomorrow morning and the UK Health Security Agency is warning of minor impacts on health and social care services and an increased risk to life for vulnerable people.
The Port of Dover is braced for its busiest weekend of the summer. Holidaymakers faced gridlock as they waited for ferries today, and tomorrow is set to be the same. Ferry company DFDS said its wait times at Dover were up to 60 minutes at border controls.
But officials hope it will be smooth sailing compared to the May half-term getaway, when waiting times hit four-and-a-half hours due to technical issues with thenew border check Entry Exit System.
The RAC’s Simon Williams warned: “Drivers should be ready for some very busy roads this weekend and expect delays. The best advice is to plan journeys and think about setting off earlier or later in the day to avoid traffic jams.”
Opting to stay at home this week will also come with its challenges. Millions of Brits are now subject to hosepipe bans and a drought has been officially declared for large parts of north and mid-Wales.
The rest of Wales, along with much of central, southern and eastern England, is in the “prolonged dry weather” category – one stage below a drought. But parts of Britain might be in for some light relief from Sunday, as high pressure retreats and brings outbreaks of rain.
Showers could be heavy in the north and the west of the UK, with 20mm possible in parts of north west Scotland. The rain will be much patchier further south and east, with large swathes of England and Wales forecast to get just a few millimetres at most. And it’s likely some locations in the south of England will not see a drop.
The Met Office’s Dan Suri said: “After a prolonged spell of hot, dry and settled weather, some will see a temporary change this weekend as weather fronts move south east across the UK. While some areas, particularly in the north and west, will see rain and showers, many places are likely to receive relatively little rainfall.
“For much of southern England, dry conditions are expected to remain the dominant feature, with temperatures recovering quickly next week and the potential for very warm or locally hot weather to return.”
Meanwhile, British holidaymakers were among thousands evacuated from the Cap Ferret peninsula as wildfires raged across south-west France. Tens of thousands are being forced to leave the upmarket resort, including hundreds escaping by boat.
Headmaster David Morton, 53, from Gloucester, was holidaying in the coastal village of Petit Piquey with his wife and sons when they received an emergency text message at 3am.
He said: “We got in our car, packed everything up as quickly as we could… and then set off and joined a very long, slow-moving queue of traffic. We could see several fires in the distance. The whole forest was on fire.”
The fire has so far consumed around 10,000 hectares – nearly the size of the city of Manchester – with water-bombing planes deployed in a bid to keep the flames under control. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 40,000 people either had been or were preparing to evacuate from the Cap Ferret peninsula.
Firefighters also battled blazes in Le Porge and Lacanau in the Gironde department of south-west France, while smoke from the fires dominated the skyline in nearby Biscarrosse.
Elsewhere in Europe, Spain has declared a national emergency after 20,000 people were forced to flee due to fires near Madrid, while the Italian island of Sicily has also been hit.