UK’S HOTTEST DAY EVER
» Met Office warn tomorrow could break 101.3F record temperature » Heatwaves may kill 7,000 a year unless the Govt takes urgent action
SWELTERING Brits could bask in record temperatures of 101.3F tomorrow.
That will beat the all-time high set in August 2003. The Met Office said: “The heatwave will continue.” But experts warn annual deaths from heat could hit 7,000 if climate change is not tackled.
BRITS may already be scorching in the grip of a major heatwave, but astonishingly temperatures are rising even further.
And tomorrow could be the hottest ever July day as forecasters predict thermometers will top the record 98.1F (36.7C) set in 2015.
They may even smash August 2003’s all-time UK high of 101.3F (38.5C).
But while the glorious sunshine marks a welcome for the start of the school summer holidays, experts are warning deaths from heatwaves in the UK could treble to 7,000 a year unless something is urgently done to tackle global warming caused by climate change.
The soaring temperatures have already brought tragedy, as a swimmer who took a dip to cool off died in a pond full of toxic algae.
There has also been travel chaos in some parts of the country with trains delayed due to warped tracks.
And nurses said hospital wards have reached 86F (30C), causing patients to pass out or vomit.
An amber “heat health watch” warning remains in place for parts of England, with people being warned to stay out of the sun between 11am and 3pm.
Thunderstorms will give some respite from the heat. After weeks without rain, torrential downpours are forecast to hit parts of the UK, with as much as 1.2 inches expected to fall in just an hour tomorrow afternoon.
But that could bring its own problems such as flooding. Over the weekend the temperature could drop to the high 20s. But fears over a rise in heatwave deaths have put a dampener on the summer.
Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee warned higher temperatures will be the “norm” within two decades.
It called for a strategy to protect vulnerable people, such as babies and the elderly, to prevent the deaths trebling. More than 2,000 people died in the 2003 heatwave.
And it warned the Government must take action to ensure homes, hospitals, care homes, offices, cities, water supplies and transport networks can cope with rising temperatures.
But funding for local authorities to adapt to climate change has been slashed, and there is a lack of regulation to prevent new homes, hospitals and care homes from overheating.
Chairwoman Mary Creagh said: “Heatwave warnings are welcomed as barbecue alerts, but they threaten health, wellbeing and productivity.
“The Government must stop playing pass the parcel with local councils and the NHS and develop a strategy to protect our ageing population from this increasing risk.”
The committee called for a raft of measures to tackle climate change, including a target for cities to boost greenery such as trees and parks that can help cool urban areas.
The Local Government Association yesterday said social workers, community wardens and maintenance staff are all on high alert to identify those struggling in the current heatwave.
Britain has had the driest half of summer on record, with just 1.85 inches of rain between June 1 and July 16. Several places have had 54 consecutive dry days since May 30, the longest spell since the 70 days of 1969.
Met Office chief meteorologist Paul Gundersen said: “The heatwave conditions will continue across much of
The Government must develop a strategy to protect our population from this risk
MARY CREAGH ON CLIMATE CHANGE THREAT TO HUMAN HEALTH
England, with temperatures into the mid to high-30s Celsius in many places from the Midlands eastwards on Thursday and Friday and it’s possible that we could break the all-time UK record of 38.5 C.
“Friday we will see intense thunderstorms affecting many central and eastern areas. Whilst many places will remain dry and hot, the storms on Friday could lead to torrential downpours in places with as much as 30mm of rainfall in an hour and 60mm in three hours.
“Large hail and strong, gusty winds are also likely and combined could lead to difficult driving conditions as a result of spray and sudden flooding.”
Rail journeys are being disrupted by the hot weather as train speeds are reduced to stop tracks from buckling.
Trains on Chiltern Railways between London and Oxford are being rescheduled because the problem. Swimmer Maciej Dymowski, 23, died in a pond at Ashby Ville in Scunthorpe, Lincs, on Monday.
A toxic algae outbreak in the water had been declared last week and visitors were warned of the dangers.
Humberside Police said they have not ruled out the aquatic bacteria causing Maciej’s death. Health chiefs are urgently appealing for blood as the prolonged heat has led to a drop in supplies because many donors have been too dehydrated to help.
As Brits find themselves parched in the heat, consultant urological surgeon Bhaskar Somani has warned we are not drinking enough water.
The doctor at University Hospital Southampton urged people to down three litres a day to stay hydrated.
He said: “Three litres a day will help maintain and improve your health.”
London mayor Sadiq Khan triggered a “high” pollution alert for the capital today. Air quality alerts will be displayed at bus stops, river piers, on busy roads and tube entrances.
Cold killed off the dinosaurs but heat could kill us PAUL GUNDERSON MET OFFICE CHIEF FORECASTER
YOU are now living through what is set to be hottest summer recorded in Britain.
As records began in 1659, that’s an awful lot of summers.
Longer and hotter even than 1976 and poised, tomorrow, to beat the hottest day to date – a 38.5C peak at Faversham, Kent, in August 2003.
Today those records are kept by the Met Office, based in a secure mini-city with a lavish water feature in the atrium, a gym, cafe, restaurant and a creche next door.
This three-storey box of glass on the outskirts of Exeter is filled with 1,600 very serious people who work to deliver – these days – reliable five-day forecasts.
Britain’s hi-tech weather world grew out of an experimental Government department set up in 1854 to research the possibilities of forecasting the weather, mainly to protect the safety of ships.
Michael Fish and his famously duff forecast in October 1987 are never mentioned here.
Just as superstitious actors refer to Macbeth as the “Scottish play”, weathermen call him “that man”.
Fish told BBC viewers: “Hurricane? What hurricane?” or words to that effect, just hours before the country was ravaged.
There are now eight chief forecasters, working 12-hour shifts that start at 7am and 7pm. Under their command are 20 junior forecasters.
Huge moving screens, showing vast weather maps of the UK, dominate the ops room.
You’d think, bearing in mind their expertise, they would have installed some air con or at least fans. But iced coffees and short sleeves are seemingly their only defence against beaded foreheads and the occasional wet patch.
And it’s only going to get worse, apparently...
These experts insist ice caps are melting and sea levels rising – by up to a metre in the next 100 years.
If we don’t dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions, they say, temperatures will go up another 8C in the UK, bringing drought, the death of agriculture, skin cancer and malaria and, possibly, the end of us humans.
To put this in perspective, average global temperatures are up 1C in the past 100 years. Another 8C within the next century could prove fatal.
As forecaster Paul Gunderson says: “Cold killed the dinosaurs, heat could kill us.”
Paul explains that as the weather heats up, the oceans warm and that heat reflects back into the atmosphere.
Still, at least these days we’ll see it all happen in great detail. One of the reasons, he says, that Fishgate will not happen again is technology. The Met Office now has three £97million computers kept under lock and key in icy conditions. Typically of the Met Office, however, they look a tad boring: dark grey boxes.
Even the flashing red and green lights are muted. And their names are even duller – Super Computer 1, 2 and 3. It’s enough to make me pine for Boaty McBoatface. For 24 hours a day, these machines run weather simulations based on real-time information from 50 satellites. And, essentially, unless we sort out carbon emissions globally, all of us are doomed.
Greenhouse gases are, apparently, weakening the Jet Stream – strong winds five to seven miles up which blow west to east.
This causes “blocking patterns”, weather that sticks, like the current heatwave or February’s Beast from the East.
They are not infallible, however.
After a 2013 summit, it was widely reported we could be locked in a decade of soaking wet summers.
Predictions were for a colder-thanaverage July. There is something almost Masonic about these prophets of global doom.
Paul, 38, says: “We are a very tight community. Even during the Gulf War, we were sharing weather information with Iraq.
“We don’t exactly have a secret handshake but you can always spot another weatherman.”
Dr Peter Stott, 50, one of the Met Office’s most senior scientists, who foresaw the Beast from the East, does have some good news: “Our climate is becoming more and more south Mediterranean.
“So, though we face drought, starvation, flash fires and possible extinction, we’ll soon be able to make very decent Champagne.”
Basically, we face hotter summers, wetter springs, stormier autumns and grimmer winters.
Brits talk about the weather every six hours, according to research. A survey by OnePoll.com found it is our most identifiable national trait, just ahead of being “great at queueing”.
So, feeding our obsession... after tomorrow’s potentially record roaster, we have a slightly cooler few days (still 20C-plus) in prospect before August heats up again.
Dr Stott’s arresting teak tan neatly makes the point. “Europe?” I ask him. “No,” he says, “Exeter.”