Temperatures will quickly rise on Monday morning and are forecast to reach 34°C in southern parts of England.
The heat will build further into Tuesday, with highs of 37°C forecast for southern England and 35°C southeast Wales. The peak of the heatwave is now forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, when temperatures are expected to climb to 38°C. By Friday conditions will be less hot, with highs of 33°C forecast across eastern areas.
Overnight temperatures will also be very high, with widespread Tropical Nights, where the temperature does not drop below 20°C, across southern parts of England especially in urban areas. Humidity is also a factor, making this heatwave even more impactful with heat stress a danger to all.
Dew points, which indicate how humid the air is, are forecast to be around 22°C on Wednesday and Thursday. For comparison, during the record breaking July 2022 heatwave they were only in single figures, highlighting how oppressive this heatwave will be.
Met Office Amber extreme heat warnings have been issued and run from Monday morning through to Thursday night and will be updated as necessary as confidence in the duration of the heat through next week increases.
It is now likely the current highest temperature on record for June will be broken, this being 35.6°C recorded in Southampton in June 1976 and Camden Square in June 1957.
Met Office Deputy Chief Forecaster Tom Crabtree, said: “The forecast heatwave is developing into an impactful severe weather event, with record breaking June temperatures and very high humidity. The combination of heat and humidity will be oppressive and bring impacts across society from public health and infrastructure, to power and water supplies.
“As well as very high daytime temperatures, there will be consecutive nights where temperatures do not drop below 20°C, which is called a Tropical Night. This will make it very hard for people to recover from the daytime heat, exacerbating the heat stress impacts.”
The warning highlights potential health impacts for the wider population, not just those vulnerable to extreme heat. It also warns of potential heat-related issues for a range of sectors such as transport, energy and water supply.
An increase in potential water safety incidents is also noted, as more people are likely to visit coastal areas, lakes or rivers.
The UK Health Security Agency has also issued a series of Yellow and Amber Heat Health Alerts, which specifically highlight the potential health and social care impacts.
The warmth also brings with it the risk of some thundery downpours for some on Monday and Tuesday for a time, though these are forecast to be isolated in nature.
The exception for the hot conditions is further to the northwest in the coming days, which will see more near-average temperatures through the weekend and the return of more unsettled weather on Monday.
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