Heat health alert issues for six regions in England ahead of scorching 30C weekend
6 July 2023, 13:53
A heat health alert has been issued for six regions ahead of a scorching weekend with temperatures set to climb up to 30C.
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The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office issued the yellow alert for six regions of England.
The regions are London, the South East, the East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England and Yorkshire and the Humber
The alert is currently in place from 12 noon on Friday 7 July to 9am on Sunday 9 July.
The Met Office has forecast temperatures of 27°C to 28°C on Friday and around 30°C on Saturday
Showers are expected to remain in a few places after a rainy beginning of the week.
Temperatures will rise towards 30C on Friday in parts of the UK, with 28C expected in London and similar hot weather elsewhere in the country.
The Met Office said: "As we move towards the weekend we are expecting a brief hotter and more humid spell of weather to develop across parts of the UK.
"The main heat and humidity will be across England and Wales with temperatures peaking around 30C during Friday and Saturday.
"Scotland and Northern Ireland however will see some wet and occasionally windy weather move in though during Thursday and Friday.
"This weather system will then gradually work eastwards across the UK during the weekend introducing some cooler air by Sunday but ahead of this we are likely to see some heavy showers and thunderstorms break out."
A longer range forecast for the period up to July 19 reads: “Showers may be heavy and thundery at times. Often breezy, especially towards the west. Temperatures are expected to be generally near average, perhaps a little above average in any sunny spells.
"Further into this period, the generally unsettled theme is likely to continue, with rain or showers at times, along with some short lived drier and brighter interludes. Often breezy, with daytime temperatures generally around average, locally a little below.
Read more: When is the 40 degree heatwave? Met Office forecast soaring temperatures
“Towards the end of the period, there are signs that conditions may start to become slightly less unsettled."
The Met Office's Annie Shuttleworth said earlier that eastern areas would experience drier conditions while showers remain in the west."
We'll continue to see some rain but it just tends to skirt along the west coast with higher pressure still dominating in the east bringing dry weather that will allow for more sunshine and higher temperatures," she said.
"So a decent day on Friday, it’ll start to feel quite hot and humid in the east."But in the west we continue to see some relatively brisk winds with persistent rain throughout a lot of the day."
The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for heavy rain and strong winds across parts of eastern England on Tuesday. It remained in place from 9pm until 6am on Wednesday.
It comes after last month was confirmed as the hottest June on record, reaching highs of 32.2C in Chertsey, Surrey.
Met Office climate extremes principal fellow Paul Davies issued a stark warning about the warmer conditions, saying "human induced climate change has driven up the possibility of reaching record high temperatures".
"By the 2050s the chance of surpassing the previous record of 14.9°C could be as high as around 50%, or every other year," he said.
"Beyond the 2050s the likelihood is strongly governed by our emissions of greenhouse gasses, with the chance increasing further in a high emissions scenario but levelling off under mitigation.
"Yet another heatwave has already been forecast for the end of July, with it set to last two weeks. Temperatures are expected to soar to 40C.
