Warmest week since 1961, but storms on way
Britain has sizzled through its hottest week since 1961 as temperatures reached 34C (93F) six days in a row for the first time in 60 years.
As central London waited for rain yesterday afternoon, the mercury hit 34.6C, making the recent run of hot weather record-breaking. Meanwhile, storms swept across Scotland and the north of England yesterday with yellow alerts for thunderstorms issued for almost the whole of the UK in the coming days.
BRITAIN has sizzled through its hottest week since 1961 as temperatures reached 34C (93F) six days in a row for the first time in 60 years.
As central London waited for rain yesterday afternoon, the mercury hit 34.6C, making the recent run of hot weather record-breaking.
While in some areas the heatwave was broken by storms, the warm temperatures are expected to remain for the next few days.
Bonnie Diamond, a Met Office forecaster, said: “Temperatures should remain in the mid-20s to low 30s and will be above the heatwave threshold in the south of England until Friday.”
About 300 villagers in Sussex had to bear the heatwave for five days without running water because of low pressure caused by more people and businesses running their taps.
Water tankers have been drafted in along with bottled-water stations to help the desperate residents.
South East Water said that more people taking staycations was “putting a strain” on the country’s water network. It asked customers to only use water for essential purposes or risk no supply at the weekend.
Six areas, including Bolney, Bolnore Village, Cuckfield, Haywards Heath, Slaugham and Warninglid, were affected by the outage, with others in the region suffering from “intermittent supplies”.
Temperatures around the world have risen by an average of 0.2C over the past decade and a new report has found that heatwaves were likely to become more common. Last year was one of the three hottest years since records began in the 1800s, only outstripped by 2016, and 2015 in some analyses, according to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
Meanwhile, storms swept across Scotland and the north of England yesterday with yellow alerts for thunderstorms issued for almost the whole of the UK in the coming days.
“This could result in landslides and problems with travel,” Ms Diamond said.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed it was called to multiple reports of flooding in the Perthshire area, affecting many properties.
Alton Towers theme park in Staffordshire said an overnight electrical storm had led to its water supply being interrupted and the attraction had to be closed.