Amber heat health alerts have been issued for most of England as temperatures are forecast to soar into the mid-30Cs again this week. The alerts have been issued as more areas of England look likely to plunge into drought as the UK's extreme summer continues.
Alerts and Forecast
Amber heat health alerts will be in place for the East Midlands, East of England, Yorkshire and the Humber, London, North West, South East, South West, and West Midlands, along with a yellow heat health for the North East, from Tuesday August 11 at 9am until Friday August 14 at 9pm.
The Met Office said it was expecting temperatures to climb to the mid 30Cs later in the week, after a relatively cool day on Monday, with the heat peaking at 36C in some spots on Thursday.
Met Office chief forecaster Jason Kelly said: “Heat will gradually build this week, with temperatures reaching into the mid-30s Celsius in what will be a fairly widespread heatwave for England and Wales.”
Drought and Impact
More areas of England are expected to fall into drought as dry weather continues. Cooler air will spread from the north west over the weekend, and weakening high pressure may allow showers or longer spells of rain to spread across parts of the UK for a time, the Met Office said. But any rain that falls will not make up for the shortfall in recent weeks and months, forecasters warn.
England and Wales have had their driest July in records dating back to 1836, with 19 counties of England seeing no rain for the entire month, provisional statistics have shown. Southern England also had its hottest July on record, while it was the joint hottest July on record for Wales, and the UK and England had their second hottest July, Met Office figures show.
The National Drought Group, made up of government and agency officials, water companies and farming leaders, is meeting again on Monday, with more areas of England expected to be declared in drought. Already half of England and the whole of Wales are in “flash drought” due to a combination of very dry weather and heat putting pressure on water resources.
Wildfires and Water Restrictions
Some 23 million customers have hosepipe bans as rivers and reservoirs run low, and farmers have warned of a “brutal harvest” for crops and a lack of feed for livestock. Major wildfires have hit areas such as the Pennines, the Cairngorms in Scotland, Llanwonno in the Rhondda Valleys, South Wales, and Dunwich Heath in Suffolk.
More than 120 firefighters were working on Monday to contain the latest blaze, which is affecting a square kilometre of heathland in the New Forest, Hampshire and has closed the A31, following a vehicle fire. The extreme dry conditions this summer have combined with multiple heatwaves, including record-breaking heat for the time of year in May and June that led to more than 2,800 excess deaths.
An 18-year-old died after getting into difficulty in the sea at Camber Sands beach, East Sussex on Sunday, bringing the number of deaths in open-water incidents over the hot, dry summer to more than 40, according to Press Association estimates.
Government Response and Warnings
On the waterways, the Canal and River Trust said it has temporarily suspended the requirement for boats without a home mooring to move at least every 14 days as part of efforts to conserve water. The UK is increasingly struggling with the impact of more extreme weather such as drought, heatwaves and wildfires fuelled by climate change, which is mostly caused by burning fossil fuels in power plants, in vehicles, to heat homes and for industry.
Downing Street defended the Government’s response to the heatwave and wildfires, insisting it was focused on both the immediate response and long-term resilience to increasing extremes. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We know these conditions are having a significant impact on communities, farmers and businesses across the country.”
But the chairman of the House of Commons’ Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael, warned shoppers should expect to pay more for their food at the checkout later in the year as extreme heat throughout Europe has a knock-on effect on supplies. He told BBC Radio 4’s The World At One programme: “The problems for farmers today will be the problems for consumers in six or 12 months’ time because you see massively decreased yield for wheat and for barley.”
He called on the Government to allow farmers to build “modest-sized” reservoirs to ease the pressures caused by both heatwaves and flooding. As the amber heat health alerts were issued, Polly Ashmore, acting consultant in public health at the UK Health Security Agency, urged people to take simple steps to stay safe, such as drinking plenty of water, keeping indoor spaces cool and avoiding the sun at the hottest part of the day. “For vulnerable groups including older adults and those with existing health conditions, warmer weather can result in serious health outcomes,” she said.
