For the first time ever, the United Kingdom has been issued a red weather warning for extreme heat, an extremely rare occurrence, as the UK’s meteorological office (Met Office) warned of an exceptional hot spell on Monday and Tuesday next week.
The weather body warned that the predicted heat could lead to widespread impacts on people, infrastructure and serious illness or danger to life.
A red weather warning for extreme heat is in place from 12am on Monday, July 18 until 11.59pm on Tuesday 19 covering Leeds as well as other parts of the country.
A spokesperson for the Met Office said: “Population-wide adverse health effects experienced, not limited to those most vulnerable to extreme heat, leading to serious illness or danger to life.”
The BBC reported that speed restrictions are likely to be enforced on railway lines, with schools closing early and that some non-emergency hospital appointments will be cancelled.
On the roads, council gritters are planning to spread sand to reduce melting, with the Royal Automobile Club warning that there may be an increase in drivers needing assistance as vehicles overheat.
Five horse race meetings were reported to have been cancelled on Monday and Tuesday because of the forecast of high temperatures.
On top of the Met Office warning, the UK Health Security Agency issued its highest level four heat alert to health and care bodies, warning that illness and death could occur among even the most fit and healthy.
According to the BBC, it is the first time a red heat warning has been issued for parts of the UK, although the extreme heat warning system was only introduced a year ago.
The UK parliament said that the alert was being treated as a national emergency, with government officials meeting on Friday and over the weekend to discuss the response.
The Met Office reported that the weather on Monday is forecast to be warm across the UK but temperatures will be more like 30°C in Scotland and Northern Ireland, rather than the high 30s predicted in parts of England and Wales.
The heatwave, originating in north Africa, is spreading across Europe and has fuelled wildfires in Portugal, France and Spain. Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge told the BBC that it was potentially a very serious situation, with a 50% chance of temperatures reaching 40°C likely along the A1 corridor, running from London northwards towards Yorkshire and the North East.
The highest recorded temperature in the UK was 38.7C in Cambridge in 2019 and BBC Weather presenter Matt Taylor said there is now a realistic possibility of hitting 40°C in the UK.
That is exceptionally hot, the sort of temperatures that if you are on holiday you may be able to deal with, but in day-to-day life it can have severe impacts on health, he said.
WebMD explains that as the human body gets hotter, blood vessels open up leading to lower blood pressure and making the heart work harder to push the blood around the body. This can cause mild symptoms such as an itchy heat rash or swollen feet as blood vessels become leaky.
At the same time, sweating leads to the loss of fluids and salt and, crucially, the balance between them in the body changes. This, combined with the lowered blood pressure, can lead to heat exhaustion.
Night-time temperatures in some areas will not drop below 25C but they are likely to start cooling off from Wednesday.
Met Office CEO Penny Endersby said the extreme heat forecast was absolutely unprecedented, and she urged people to take the warning as seriously as a red or amber warning for snow or wind.
People in the UK are used to treating hot weather as a chance to go and play in the sun; but this is not that sort of weather, she said.
In England, there were 2 500 excess deaths in the summer of 2020 due to hot weather, and the Red Cross predicts that heat-related deaths in the UK could treble in 30 years.
People are being urged to stay hydrated, look out for vulnerable people, keep curtains closed and stay out of the midday sun.
The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the latter half of the 18th century, and experts predict that temperatures will keep rising unless governments make steep cuts to emissions.
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