Brits will be baking in scorching temperatures as the heatwave triggers the UK's first red warning for extreme heat with a difficult night for sleeping ahead of us. London is predicted to be hotter than the Caribbean, the Western Sahara and popular holiday destinations in Europe as temperatures soar.
Other areas of England will also experience hotter weather than the holiday destinations, with the Midlands predicted to see highs of 37C, East Anglia with 36C and the North West and North East with 33C. It comes as new records were broken in Wales and Northern Ireland on Sunday.
Chief meteorologist at the Met Office Paul Davies warned Monday night will be “very oppressive” and it will be difficult to sleep in the heat. The top forecaster said he was “really concerned” about the UK hitting 40 or 41C on Tuesday.
He told Sky News: “Tonight will be very oppressive, I mean it’s actually difficult sleeping conditions. And tomorrow is the day where we are really concerned about a good chance now of hitting 40 or 41C, and with that all the health conditions that come with those higher temperatures.”
Mr Davies warned the rise in temperature is “entirely consistent” with climate change and said the “brutality” of the heat could become commonplace by the end of the century. Mr Davies told Sky News the weather charts he had seen on Monday were “astounding” and unlike any he had observed throughout his 30-year career.
“This is entirely consistent with climate change. To get 40 degrees in the UK we need that additional boost from human-induced climate,” he said.
“Well, I’ve been a meteorologist for about 30 years and I’ve never seen the charts I’ve seen today. And the speed at which we are seeing these exceptionally high temperatures is broadly in line with what we were saying but to be honest, as a meteorologist, to see the brutality of the heat we’re expecting tomorrow, is quite astounding.
“And it does worry me a lot and my colleagues here at the Met Office that this sort of unprecedented heat could become a regular occurrence by the end of the century.”
The rise in temperatures has forced the UK Health Security Agency to issue a level 4 heat-health alert – described as an “emergency” – while the Met Office has issued the UK’s first red extreme heat warning, with both running from Monday to Wednesday.
Tuesday is meanwhile predicted to be even hotter, with temperatures possibly reaching 40C – a new record for England.
Scientists at the Met Office have said the 40C prediction is a result of climate change, warning that the 40C figure “could be as much as 10 times more likely in the current climate than under a natural climate unaffected by human influence”.
Some schools in several counties, including Nottinghamshire and Hampshire, have confirmed they will close, while train companies urged people not to travel on Monday and Tuesday.
Network Rail will close the East Coast Main Line between noon and 8pm on Tuesday for all locations between London King’s Cross and York and Leeds, with passengers warned not to travel.
