Brits were tonight urged to take the Met Office’s extreme heat warning seriously amid fears soaring temperatures could spark health problems and even deaths.
Experts said there is a “very likely risk to life” as large swathes of the country swelter under highs of 41C on Monday and Tuesday.
The Met Office issued its first-ever red heat warning and urged people to stay indoors, keep homes cool, drink plenty of fluids and avoid excess boozing, whether vulnerable or not.
Commuters and those hoping to get away could also be hit as train tracks buckle and roads and runways melt on the hottest days ever. Even power cuts are a possibility.
There is now an 80% chance of breaking 2019’s all-time UK record of 38.7 on Monday and Tuesday and 50% chance of reaching temperatures of 40C, normally seen in California’s Death Valley, the world’s hottest place. The UK Health Security Agency also issued a Level Four heat-health alert covering the whole of England for both days.
It warned: “Illness and death may occur among the fit and healthy, not just in high-risk groups.”
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner branded the situation a “national emergency”. There were more than 1,600 excess deaths last year during two short heatwaves nowhere near as extreme as this one. Met Office chief executive Penny Endersby said: “The extreme heat we’re forecasting is unprecedented.
“We’ve seen when climate change has driven such severe weather events all around the world, it can be difficult for people to make the best decisions because nothing in their life experience has led them to know what to expect. We’re used to treating a hot spell as a chance to play in the sun. This is not that sort of weather.
“Our lifestyles and infrastructure are not adapted to what is coming.”
Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge added: “If we get to 40C, that shows that climate change is with us now.”
Meteorologist Stephen Keates said: “We have crossed the line when it’s not funny any more, it’s serious. I’ve never seen our model produce 40C here.”
Night time may not bring much relief, with temperatures expected to be 25C in both the North and South.
The stark warnings came as Network Rail urged the public to avoid travelling due to track problems. Schools are closing early and extra staff are being drafted in to help the already struggling NHS.
The Ambulance Service is currently under “extreme pressure” with a 29% surge in Covid cases and day-long waits outside full hospitals.
Neighbours have been asked to keep an eye on the elderly and vulnerable. There are fears of power cuts with a surge in demand on air-conditioning units and the heat damaging transformers.
Passenger planes could become too heavy to take off as the heat reduces atmospheric pressure and affects lift.
Fire Brigade Union national officer Riccardo la Torre said members are “going to more floods than we used to and more wildfires”.
And he fears firefighters may be injured or killed.
Riccardo added: “The fire moves faster than a firefighter. I am waiting for the phone to ring because these conditions hurt firefighters. I’ve been in these fires and they’re killers.”
People have also been warned against cooling off in rivers after four teenagers drowned in the heatwave.
No10 insisted it had a “tried and tested contingency plan” for dealing with the extreme temperatures.
A third Cobra meeting could take place over the weekend. But Boris Johnson will be at Chequers and No10 was unable to say if he would attend the meetings.
Temperatures are likely to be cooler later in the week.
