LONDON – Weeks after recording its highest temperature on record, Britain prepared for another alarmingly hot weather as officials said an extreme heat warning would be in place for much of the country from Thursday through the weekend. southern half of England and parts of Wales. .
While meteorologists predicted temperatures would be uncomfortably high this week, they weren’t expected to be as extreme as those seen in July, when they first rose above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in Britain. Due to the expected heat this week, the UK Health Security Agency issued a level 3 heat health warning for southern and central England until Sunday, advising more vulnerable populations to stay hydrated and take necessary steps to prevent their homes overheat. Most homes in Britain do not have air conditioning.
According to the Met Office, Britain’s national weather service, the heat is expected to increase throughout the week, peaking on Friday and Saturday. Areas of central and southern England can reach up to 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit). Other parts of England, Wales and Scotland could see the mercury rise to 29 degrees Celsius (84 Fahrenheit). Similar blistering conditions were expected in Northern Ireland.
“What the July heat wave had was this kind of southern spike towards record temperatures, really with days of really extreme heat temperatures, where this week is more of a prolonged period of temperatures, but not as hot,” Stephen Dixon, a spokesperson said. from the Met Office by phone on Tuesday.
“There are potential effects of prolonged heat of this nature,” he said. “I think it’s important to note that nighttime temperatures in some areas in the south won’t fall below” 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit).
Scattered thunderstorms could bring some rain to the southwest and some central areas on Sunday, Mr Dixon said, adding there was a chance of more rain next week.
There were also concerns that the warm weather could affect transport, with at least one UK National Highways official advising motorists to check their vehicles thoroughly before setting out.
Pets can also suffer from the heat, another official said, adding that pet owners should provide for their animals with fresh drinking water, good ventilation and shade from direct sunlight.
After England’s driest July since 1935, a garden hose ban was introduced last week in parts of southern England and Wales, the BBC said. Partly due to the extremely dry conditions, firefighters in Cornwall, in the south west of England, have said on Monday that there was a very high to exceptional risk of wildfires in the region and they urged residents not to make bonfires and burn yard waste as these actions could get out of hand.
Britain’s heatwave in July was exacerbated by climate change, according to a scientific report. While linking a single heat wave to climate change requires analysis, scientists have no doubt that heat waves around the world are getting hotter, more frequent and longer lasting. As the burning of fossil fuels causes the average temperature on Earth to rise, so does the range of possible temperatures, making blistering peaks more likely. This means that any heat wave is now exacerbated to some degree by changes in planetary chemistry caused by greenhouse gas emissions.