Temperatures in the UK are set to rocket this week, causing Britain to be one stop from a national emergency, and, as a result, the Met Office are encouraging people to stay indoors.
After a few cooler days, the heat looks like it’s coming back to the UK, with hot and humid air invading the country today (July 23) and lasting through until Friday, (July 27).
The Met Office have issued a level 3 warning, which means they’ve confirmed there’ll be heatwave temperatures in some regions of the UK.
According to the Metro, the Met Office explain:
On Monday, hot and humid air will lie over the east and southeast of England, with cloud and outbreaks of rain across northern England.
The cloud and rain will gradually break up and turn showery in the north, with some of these heavy and thundery.
South of the rain, long spells of sunshine will develop with temperatures generally ranging from very warm in the West and East Midlands, to hot and humid, locally very hot in east and southeastern areas.
Away from northern England, dry and sunny weather should dominate through the week, but interspersed with heavy showers in afternoon and evening periods.
They continue:
Temperatures will be very warm or hot, locally very hot in the east.
Thresholds could be breached in places from Monday onwards, with very warm and muggy overnight conditions.
Yorkshire and Humber and southwest England will also see temperatures rise through the week, but with cloud and outbreaks of rain affecting the north and west, there is a lower risk of thresholds being reached.
The NHS are advising people to avoid going outside while it’s so hot, and encouraging everyone to drink plenty of liquids to stay hydrated.
A statement from the NHS reads:
Stay out of the sun. Keep your home as cool as possible – shading windows and shutting them during the day may help.
Open them when it is cooler at night. Keep drinking fluids. If there’s anybody you know, for example an older person living on their own, who might be at special risk, make sure they know what to do.
The heat could potentially exceed 34 degrees Celsius in the south, making the country hotter than Jamaica.
Alex Burkill, a Met Office forecaster, said:
It does look likely it will be at least 33C at some point this week, most likely on Wednesday or Thursday, in the south east and east, London, Essex, Kent, east Anglia and into Lincolnshire – and that would make it the hottest day we have had so far.
The heat and humidity means there is a lot of energy in the air and a high risk of intense thunderstorms. Whether or not it will happen is where the uncertainty is.
It’s times like these when we realise air conditioning should be a more common thing in the UK!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.