The coming months will also bring heat waves that the Met Office has previously warned are becoming more likely due to climate change and higher CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. “There’s not a lot going for the extremely hot days or the hot days yet this year, but that is going to change,” said Steven Keates of the Met Office. “We are probably ready to see a brief heatwave at the end of this week.” In the south-east of England, temperatures could reach 32 degrees Celsius on Friday, but could reach as high as the mid-1930s, according to the Met Office. This would make the region warmer than the Canary Islands, Portugal, Jamaica, Costa Rica and Cyprus. This would also mean that sometime later in the week the country will have the hottest day of the year so far. The previous hottest temperature was 27.5 C (81.5 F) recorded in Heathrow on May 17th. Kates added that we should have beaten the record “comfortably on Friday”, but we could have approached it or surpassed it on Wednesday or Thursday. He also warned that the country could face heatwaves between June and mid-September. The heatwave is defined by the Met Office as “at least three consecutive days with daily maximum temperatures meeting or exceeding the threshold temperature limit”. This limit varies by prefecture. “We think it’s going to be hotter than average right now with an increased chance of heatstroke,” Keates said. “There have been no heat waves so far this year; the more likely it is that the further south, southeast you are.” In March, the Met Office updated the heat thresholds due to the effects of global warming. Eight counties – from Surrey to East Yorkshire – have changed to reflect “an unquestionable trend in rising temperatures for the UK”, the Met Office said. Dr Mark McCarthy, head of the Met Office’s National Climate Information Center, said: “Although heat waves are extreme weather events, research shows that climate change makes these events more likely. “A scientific study by the Met Office on the heat of summer 2018 in the United Kingdom showed that it was 30 times more likely to occur now than in 1750 due to the higher concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.” NHS advice for hot weather suggests people stay out of the sun between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., stay hydrated, use sunscreen and wear loose clothing.
