‘We got 40C last year and before that happened no one thought there was an outside chance’
While some Brits might already be sick of the heat and have the fan on full, experts have said a heatwave next month could hit 40C and potentially last two weeks.
Sunday was the joint hottest day of the year so far with the mercury soaring to 32.2C at Coningsby, Lincolnshire – matching the high reached at Chertsey, Surrey, on 10 June, Sky News reported. Coningsby is the same place where the UK’s hottest-ever temperature of 40.3C was recorded in July 2022.
While the weekend’s hot spell gave way to thunderstorms for large parts of eastern England and Scotland, the Mirror reported Monday that a heatwave is set to hit in early and late July.
The Weather Company suggested blistering temperatures could last for up to 14 days and surpass last year’s record-breaking high.
The Met Office agreed that extreme temperatures are “not out of the question”, with the mercury boosted by hot continental air.
Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey told The Mirror: “Towards the middle to the end of July there is an increasing chance that high pressure may become established.
“On balance northern areas are more likely to see drier conditions with southern areas seeing greater risk of showers and thunderstorms.
Vautrey told the Mirror there is a “greater than normal chance” of heatwaves for the “whole period of the middle to the end of July”.
He added: “Because of the change in climate our extreme temperatures are continuously being pushed.”
Vautrey said there is an “increasing chance” the temperatures could get “pushed further”.
“We got 40C last year and before that happened no one thought there was an outside chance. There’s also a possibility we do continue to see those trends.”
Saturday reached 29C at Wisley in Surrey, just slightly higher than the 28C recorded Friday.
Yellow thunderstorm warnings are in place for North West England between 1pm and 9pm, as well as Northern Ireland from 2pm to 7pm.
Related links:
Met Office reveals the exact date temperatures are set to hit 27C
More than 3,200 Brits killed by heatwave in 2022 as temperatures hit 40C
Dogs face while being stretchered off a mountain on the hottest day of the year says it all
