Temperatures have been soaring this week due to a “heat-dome” that could smash previous June records and see the mercury rise as high as 40C
A further Met Office warning for extreme heat has been issued for the UK with Brits facing stifling conditions as temperatures could hit 40C.
Temperatures have been soaring this week due to a “heat-dome” settling over western Europe which has brought extreme conditions across the continent.
The hottest temperatures are expected for today and Thursday with red warnings in place by the Met Office but now the national weather agency has added another amber warning for Friday.
Grahame Madge, Met Office spokesman, said: “We have issued another amber warning for eastern and central England for Friday.“As the forecast continues to evolve we may need to issue further updates once more detail becomes clear.”
The new amber alert covers a large bulk of England, mainly across central, southern and eastern parts but it does extend into the north as high as Manchester. It runs from midnight on Thursday for 24 hours.
And the Met Office states over the new warning: “Very hot weather will continue to affect much of England. Temperatures by day are widely expected to exceed 30 Celsius, with the hottest areas potentially peaking around 38 Celsius in eastern and central England.
“Overnight, temperatures are unlikely to fall much lower than high teens Celsius, and some places will not fall below low 20s Celsius. These high temperatures will also be accompanied by high humidity.“Cooler conditions will slowly begin to become established from the west following this period, although very warm conditions are likely to remain across east and southeastern England through Saturday, albeit not as hot as earlier in the week.”
A red Met Office weather warning for extreme heat covering an area stretching from London to Swansea and Somerset to Birmingham came into force at 9am on Wednesday, and is due to last until 9pm on Thursday.
During the peak of the heatwave on these two days, the temperature could come close to the UK’s all-time high of 40.3C, which was measured in Lincolnshire in July 2022.
The latest heatwave is also expected to surpass the record for June of 35.6C set in Hampshire in 1976.
A combination of extreme heat and humidity could have an impact on public health, infrastructure, power and water supplies, the Met Office said, and could cause heat-related issues for a range of sectors such as transport, energy and water supply.
There could also be an increase in water safety incidents during the heatwave, the agency said, as more people are likely to visit coastal areas, lakes or rivers.
BBC weather forecaster Chris Fawkes said he expected the June temperature record to get “absolutely smashed”, telling the Today programme: “I think this afternoon we’re probably looking at highs reaching around 37C, maybe 38C, so by a big margin we are likely to set a new June temperature record.”
Overnight into Wednesday, temperatures across many areas stayed above 20C, with Brize Norton in Oxfordshire not dipping below 22.3C and Heathrow, west London, not dipping below 22.1C, the Met Office said.
Areas facing Friday’s new amber alert
East Midlands
- Derby
- Derbyshire
- Leicester
- Leicestershire
- Lincolnshire
- Northamptonshire
- Nottingham
- Nottinghamshire
- Rutland
East of England
- Bedford
- Cambridgeshire
- Central Bedfordshire
- Essex
- Hertfordshire
- Luton
- Norfolk
- Peterborough
- Southend-on-Sea
- Suffolk
- Thurrock
London & South East England
- Bracknell Forest
- Brighton and Hove
- Buckinghamshire
- East Sussex
- Greater London
- Hampshire
- Kent
- Medway
- Milton Keynes
- Oxfordshire
- Reading
- Slough
- Surrey
- West Berkshire
- West Sussex
- Windsor and Maidenhead
- Wokingham
North West England
- Cheshire East
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Greater Manchester
- Halton
- Merseyside
- Warrington
South West England
West Midlands
- Shropshire
- Staffordshire
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Telford and Wrekin
- Warwickshire
- West Midlands Conurbation
- Worcestershire
Yorkshire & Humber
- North East Lincolnshire
- North Lincolnshire
- South Yorkshire
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