The UK faces its most extreme heatwave in decades this week, with the Met Office issuing a rare red weather warning for Wednesday and Thursday – only the second such alert for heat since records began, and the first since July 2022, when temperatures hit 40.3C in Coningsby, Lincolnshire. Forecasters said the mercury could reach 40C in parts of England and Wales, shattering the June record of 35.6C set during the infamous 1976 heatwave.
The red warning, which comes into force at 9am Wednesday and lasts until 9pm Thursday, covers southern Wales as far west as Swansea and an arc of England from London across to Somerset, north-west to Birmingham, and north-east to southern Cambridgeshire. Within that zone, the UK Health Security Agency issued a red heat health alert for six regions – London, the East and West Midlands, the East of England, the South East and South West – indicating “a risk to life for even the healthy population”. The Met Office warned that “dangerous weather is expected” and urged people to “take action now to keep yourself and others safe”.
“UK issued rare red extreme heat warning for Wednesday and Thursday, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C, posing risk to life.”
The heat will be accompanied by high humidity, making conditions even more uncomfortable. “Very warm and humid night times also reducing the ability for people to recover overnight,” forecasters said. Amber warnings, serious in their own right, cover much of the rest of England and Wales, with temperatures widely exceeding 37C in the shade. The AA cautioned that drivers could see gritters on roads and heat could put extra strain on vehicles. Several schools announced plans to close early or send pupils home to protect them from the heat, mirroring scenes across the Channel where 845 schools in France were shut and a further 1,800 allowed early finishes as temperatures hit 42C in Bordeaux.
The human cost of the heatwave was already evident on the continent. Two children aged two and four were found dead in their family car in Carpentras, southern France, an accident the local state prosecutor said was “probably linked to the heatwave”. Ambulance workers tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate the pair after they reportedly became trapped inside with the windows shut amid highs of 39C. In the Gironde region, three people aged between 80 and 95 died partly due to the heat, while 13 drowning deaths were reported at the weekend after people sought to cool off in unsupervised lakes and rivers.
A yellow warning for thunderstorms was also issued for parts of southern England on Monday evening, adding a different risk to the sweltering conditions. Scientists said the extreme heat was a marker of global warming; Météo-France noted that of 51 heatwaves recorded in France since 1947, 34 have taken place since 2000, and 26 since 2011. The Met Office’s red warning means “substantial disruption to daily life is likely”, and the public has been advised to stay out of the sun between 11am and 3pm. Relief is expected from Saturday, when temperatures could drop by as much as 15C, but forecasters warned that changeable conditions will continue into early July with temperatures remaining “widely above average”.