Four heat health alerts have been issued for parts of the country as Britain faces temperatures of 30C this week.
A mini heatwave has prompted the UK’s Health Safety Agency to issue an alert for large swathes of the UK.
The 54-hour yellow warning, from 5pm on July 18 to 11pm on July 20, coincides with a rise in temperatures and covers London, the south-east and east of England, and the East Midlands.
Government agencies have warned of ‘small impacts on the health and social sector’ which could ‘increase the risk of death among vulnerable people’.
The warm weather will be a welcome respite from summer floods in a month that has seen 97 percent of July’s average rainfall.
Explains how people enjoyed themselves punting on the River Cam as the sun beamed down on Cambridge today.
CAMBRIDGE – People are enjoying punting tours on the River Cam now that the sun is setting
CAMBRIDGE – The warm summer weather has been a respite from the summer floods
CAMBRIDGE – A mini heatwave is expected to hit parts of England this week, with heat health alerts issued for four areas, including in Cambridge where people are out on the River Cam today.
The predicted forecast has prompted the UK’s Health Safety Agency to issue a 54-hour heat health alert for large swathes of Britain.
The south east of England and London will bear the brunt of the heat where the mercury could reach 30C on Friday.
Milder weather is expected to return on Sunday with Met Office spokeswoman Nicola Maxey warning overnight temperatures could remain in the low 20Cs for parts of south-east England.
It is officially classified as a ‘tropical night’ if it does not drop below 20C with possible health implications for the elderly or sick.
It is in place from 5pm on July 18 to 11pm on July 20 with government agencies warning of ‘minor impacts on the health and social sector’ which could ‘increase the risk of death among vulnerable people’.
Maxey said there was still uncertainty about how much milder conditions would arrive, with the south-east likely to hold onto the heat longer than elsewhere.
Meanwhile, some parts of the country have exceeded the average rainfall for July even though it is only half a month.
A Met Office spokesman said England had 97 per cent of average July rainfall between July 1 and 15, Wales had 65 per cent, Scotland 49 per cent and Northern Ireland 47 per cent.
London has 154 per cent of the July average and Dorset 120 per cent. Edinburgh has just 40 per cent and Dundee 33 per cent.
Maxey said: “There’s quite a bit of regional variation, but it’s generally been a wet month so far.
‘There is a caveat that, with some dry weeks, at the end of the month it can even come out.’
The forecast for today shows widespread rain across the north this morning with London and Norwich set to see temperatures reach 20C by 11am
A mini heatwave is set to hit parts of the country this week as Britons are warned of scorching 30C temperatures and uncomfortably tropical nights.
BRIGHTON – The return of warm weather will surely see many sunbathers lining the pebbled beaches of the Sussex coast as pictured above in June.
LONDON — Women relax on a sunny day in Battersea Park in late June
BRIGHTON — Beachgoers enjoy the sun on Sussex beaches as temperatures reach 30C in late June
He said that two or three heavy rains often cause the most rainfall in July in a location, rather than a long period of wet weather.
St Swithin’s Day on Monday – usually said to predict the weather for the next 40 days – was another day of rain for England and Wales.
But the Met Office said conditions next week would be ‘changeable’ rather than just rain, with temperatures close to average.
Rebekah Hicks, Deputy Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office said: “A change in weather patterns is expected over the next 24 hours, with high pressure in the east bringing warmer air off the continent over the next few days.
“While temperatures may be close to normal in the north-west, it will be very warm in the south and east, with maximums of 30C in the south-east of England on Friday.
“Nights are also expected to be very warm in the south-east on Thursday and Friday, with temperatures likely to remain above 20C in some places overnight.
‘The heat doesn’t look like it will last long, as a frontal system pushes in warm air and conditions turn uncomfortable over the weekend.’
