Although the heatwave which made the country swelter over the weekend has ended with slightly cooler conditions today, forecasters are warning that next month could see two weeks of 40C temperatures. The Mirror is reporting that the Weather company is saying that more could be on the way in July.
Officials from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office put a heat-health warning in place over the weekend due to the sustained period of high temperatures. When there is a heatwave services such as the NHS are put under pressure because people with underlying health conditions are more likely to have a problem.
Now it looks like July could see similar with predictions there could be 14 days of melting heat. And the Met Office said that the underlying trends caused by global warming could mean new records being set this summer - beating the UK top temp of 40.3C (105F) experienced in Lincolnshire last year.
Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey told The Mirror: “Towards the middle to the end of July there is an increasing chance that high pressure may become established.
“On balance northern areas are more likely to see drier conditions with southern areas seeing greater risk of showers and thunderstorms. We can say there is a greater than normal chance of heat waves for the whole period of the middle to the end of July.
“Because of the change in climate our extreme temperatures are continuously being pushed. There is an increasing chance these extremes could get pushed further. We got 40C last year and before that happened no one thought there was an outside chance.
“There’s also a possibility we do continue to see those trends.” The Met Office has issued thunderstorm warnings for parts of the UK today. Brits basked in scorching temperatures yesterday, just missing the hottest day of the year so far.
Saturday reached 29C at Wisley in Surrey, just slightly higher than the 28C recorded the day before.
