Met Office names 9 UK areas forecast above 30C as health alerts issued for heatwave

The Met Office has named the nine regions of the UK set to face temperatures above 30C this week as a new heat health alert comes into force.

The country’s sixth heatwave of the summer will see the mercury climb to 36C in south east England and East Anglia on Thursday (August 13), prompting a new heat health alert to be issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

Officials have already placed most of the south of England under a yellow heat health alert until Wednesday (August 12), but a new warning covering the period from 9am on Tuesday (August 11) to Friday evening (August 14) is set to come into effect.

It’s far wider than the previous alert, thanks to the fact far more people will see temperatures surpass 30C. Between Tuesday and Friday, nine UK regions will see the mercury top 30C.

They include Wales and every English region aside from the north east.

Weather maps suggest the following regions will see temperatures of 30C or above:

• East Midlands

Temperatures will steadily rise as the week progresses. On Tuesday, highs of 29C in Cardiff, 28C in Manchester and 25C in London are forecast before temperatures soar to the mid-30s in some areas on Thursday, according to the Met Office.

UKHSA officials are now urging people to take simple steps to stay safe, such as drinking plenty of water, checking on vulnerable friends and family, and avoiding the sun at the hottest part of the day.

Amber heat health alerts have been issued for most of England including the Midlands, South East, North West and South West. Although the north east isn’t expected to be hotter than 30C, it is still subject to a less severe yellow alert.

Another heatwave is likely to deepen worries about drought in England and Wales. The Environment Agency (EA) believes 71.3 percent of England is experiencing “flash drought”, as a dry start to August followed the country’s driest July on record.

Flash drought is one which develops very quickly because of a combination of very low rainfall and high temperatures.

In Monday’s announcement, the agency said the East Midlands, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, Kent and East Sussex, and Solent and the South Downs have become the latest areas to move into drought. All of Wales is already in that state.

Some 45 million people are in drought-stricken areas, and 27 million customers are under hosepipe bans as rivers and reservoirs run low.

In a summer when the UK has struggled with extreme heat and dry conditions, two record-breaking heatwaves in May and June led to the deaths of more than 2,800 people, followed by further heatwaves in July.

Drought, heatwaves and wildfires are expected to become the norm in Britain as global warming, which is mostly caused by burning fossil fuels in power plants, in vehicles, to heat homes and for industry, changes the country’s climate.

Farmers have warned of a “brutal harvest” for crops and a lack of feed for livestock, and there have been warnings of food price inflation shocks later in the year as a searing summer across Europe feeds through from fields to supermarket shelves.

The latest heatwave, which is expected to be widespread throughout England and Wales, is set to subside over the weekend and bring fresher air and rain, but this is not expected to make up for the shortfall in recent months, forecasters warn.