The alerts follow a brief return to temperatures closer to the seasonal average from Wednesday. According to the Met Office, warmer conditions will begin to build again from Saturday, extending another spell of unusually dry and sunny summer weather.
The UK Health Security Agency has issued yellow heat health alerts for the East Midlands, West Midlands, South East, South West, East of England, Yorkshire and the Humber, and London. They will take effect at 9am on Saturday, 8 August, and remain in force until 9pm on Tuesday, 11 August.
Temperatures Set to Rise through the Weekend
Friday is expected to remain dry and settled, with warm sunshine across many areas. Honor Criswick, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said the warm weather was continuing and described Friday as a day with “quite a bit of warm sunshine around”.
Conditions will become warmer on Saturday, when central and southern England and eastern parts of Wales could reach about 29C. Northern Ireland and some areas of Scotland are expected to see cloud and outbreaks of rain, while much of the rest of the country remains dry and sunny.
According to Criswick, temperatures will rise further on Sunday, potentially reaching between 30C and 32C somewhere across southern or south-eastern England. Some showery rain is also expected to move south-eastwards, although only a limited number of areas are forecast to receive showers. “It’s only just a few showers, and there’s not much rain, really,” she said. “It’s not going to be enough to make any real difference to the dry summer we’ve had.”
A modest dip is forecast for Monday, when temperatures across southern England are expected to reach around 27C to 29C. They are then set to climb again on Tuesday, when the heat is expected to become more widespread across England and Wales.
Health Warnings Come during an Exceptionally Dry Summer
The UKHSA’s yellow alerts warn that high temperatures may place significant pressure on health and social care services. They also indicate a possible increase in deaths, particularly among people aged 65 and over and those with existing health conditions.
The warnings arrive after a summer already marked by repeated periods of high temperatures. According to the reports, two record-breaking heatwaves in May and June were associated with more than 2,800 excess deaths, while two further heatwaves in July contributed to drought conditions and wildfires.
The dry weather has also produced exceptional rainfall figures. Provisional Met Office data showed that July was the driest for England and Wales since records began in 1836. Nineteen English counties recorded 1mm of rain or less during the entire month. England received only a tenth of its average July rainfall, while Wales recorded 9% of its usual amount.
Both countries received less than half the rainfall recorded during the previous driest July, in 1911. The Met Office also reported that the UK, England and Wales recorded their sunniest Julys on record, while for England and Wales it was the sunniest calendar month ever observed.
