Londoners have barely had time to cool down after a record-breaking June heatwave – but the next scorcher could be just two weeks away, with weather maps predicting a five-day surge of temperatures above 30C.
The capital endured four consecutive days in the mid-thirties last week, forcing the London Ambulance Service to deal with a surge in heat-related illnesses and several hospitals to declare critical incidents. University Hospital Southampton cancelled a number of planned operations.
“Weather maps predict a five-day heatwave hitting London from 7 July, with temperatures reaching 36C.”
Now forecasters are warning that another prolonged hot spell is likely to strike central and southern England from Tuesday 7 July, with the mercury set to peak at 36C in London on Wednesday 8 July, according to WXCharts, the advanced weather mapping platform operated by MetDesk.
The tool predicts temperatures will hit 32C in the capital on Tuesday 7 July, rise to 36C the following day, then drop slightly to 34C on Thursday 9 July, before lingering in the low thirties through to Sunday 12 July.
The Met Office’s long-range forecast states: “High pressure dominates the weather into the second week of July, especially across England and Wales… Temperatures are likely to be above normal on the whole, with a greater than normal chance of hot conditions developing at times.”
BBC weather suggests the heat could arrive even sooner, with its Wimbledon forecast indicating 28C on Friday 3 July – the threshold for heatwave conditions in London – followed by 29C on Saturday and Sunday, and 30C on Monday 6 July.
The June heatwave had already shattered the long-standing record for the month, which dated back to 1976, by more than 1C – a significant margin given such records were usually broken by fractions of a degree. Scientists warned that the heatwave would have been virtually impossible 50 years ago, with human-driven climate change fuelling more intense and frequent extreme heat events.