The Met Office has issued a Red Warning for Extreme Heat for the third consecutive day, a historic first in the UK's current weather warnings system.
This warning, effective for Friday, highlights the oppressive combination of heat and humidity that will have far-reaching impacts on public health, infrastructure, power, and water supplies.
The UK Health Security Agency has also issued Heat Health Alerts, warning of significant risks to the population, particularly older individuals.
These alerts specifically mention the increased risk to life, significant demand on health and social care services, and challenges in delivering care due to hot indoor environments. Additionally, the alerts warn of potential national critical infrastructure failures, such as power outages, and an increase in water-related incidents, including risks from cold-water shock and drowning.
The Met Office projections indicate that hot spells, like the current one, will become more frequent in the UK's future climate, especially in the south-east region.
According to climate attribution studies, human influence has increased the occurrence and intensity of extreme heat events, making it virtually certain that such events will continue to rise.
The current heatwave is expected to end by Saturday, with temperatures peaking around 32°C in the southeast of England.
Next week, a change to a more westerly influence on the UK's weather is predicted, bringing a return to average temperatures and a mix of winds and rain.
Andy Page, the Met Office Chief Meteorologist, said: “This exceptional spell of hot and humid weather will maintain its grip on the UK for a little longer. Although the current red warning for areas in more central and western parts of England and Wales will expire later today, the heatwave will still be bringing high temperatures to these areas, albeit moving away from the peak heat of Wednesday and Thursday.
“We are expecting that some daytime maximum temperatures could exceed 36°C, perhaps rising to 37°C in some locations.
“Significant disruption to daily life is likely and the public should take every effort to adapt their daily routines to cope with these levels of heat, which up to now have been extremely rare for the UK.”
