Red ‘danger to life’ extreme heat weather warning issued by Met Office

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Summer has officially arrived - as of yesterday's summer solstice - and the weather is certainly letting us know.

With Keir Starmer cranking up the old weather machine as one last hoorah after resigning today as prime minister, it looks like we're set for some scorching heat as high as 38C in some places.

Initially, the Met Office had issued an amber heat warning for much of England and Wales, but has since upgraded this to the highest degree of warning - red.

As of around midday, the weather people are warning of the highest degree of impact due to extreme heat which includes danger to life.

The warning is in place for Wednesday, 24 June and Thursday 25 June.

The Met Office measure their warnings based off a graph with 'very likely' and 'high impact' as its axis'.

If a weather scenario is 'very likely' and has a 'high impact' it is considered a red warning.

It lists a number of things to expect as a consequence of this "extreme heat":

• Population-wide adverse health effects experienced, not limited to those most vulnerable to extreme heat, leading to serious illness or danger to life
• Substantial changes in working practices and daily routines will be required
• High risk of failure of heat-sensitive systems and equipment, with the loss of power and other essential services, such as water, electricity, gas or mobile phone services
• Significantly more people visiting coastal areas, lakes and rivers, leading to an increased risk of water safety incidents
• Delays on roads and road closures, along with delays and cancellations to rail and air travel, with significant welfare issues for those who experience even moderate delay

Met Office advice for staying safe

The Met Office has issued advice for staying safe in the extreme heat, telling people to "drink plenty of fluids, keep out of the sun and avoid any exercise between 11am-3pm when the sun is strongest and close curtains in rooms that face the sun."

It adds that if you are to go out to take water with you, try to stay in the shade and wear sun scream and a hat.

Advice also stretched to enjoying swimming in water safely, warning of cold water shock - one of the biggest factors in drowning-related deaths each year in the UK.

It says to "enter the water gradually, avoiding jumping or diving straight in, to reduce your risk of cold-water shock, go to a lifeguarded beach or a supervised swimming area, and, if you, or anyone else, get into difficulty in the water, float on your back."

With public transport likely to be affected by the extreme heat, the Met Office warns of traffic and delays to bus and train services.

It advises to take water with you as well as a small fan, dressing in light fabrics with light colours and to keep an eye out for fellow passengers.

Full list of areas affected by red warning:

East Midlands

• Northamptonshire

East of England

• Bedford
• Cambridgeshire
• Central Bedfordshire
• Essex
• Hertfordshire
• Luton
• Thurrock

London & South East England

• Bracknell Forest
• Buckinghamshire
• East Sussex
• Greater London
• Hampshire
• Kent
• Milton Keynes
• Oxfordshire
• Reading
• Slough
• Surrey
• West Berkshire
• West Sussex
• Windsor and Maidenhead
• Wokingham

South West England

• Bath and North East Somerset
• Bristol
• Dorset
• Gloucestershire
• North Somerset
• Somerset
• South Gloucestershire
• Swindon
• Wiltshire

Wales

• Blaenau Gwent
• Bridgend
• Caerphilly
• Cardiff
• Carmarthenshire
• Merthyr Tydfil
• Monmouthshire
• Neath Port Talbot
• Newport
• Powys
• Rhondda Cynon Taf
• Swansea
• Torfaen
• Vale of Glamorgan

West Midlands

• Herefordshire
• Warwickshire
• West Midlands Conurbation
• Worcestershire

Full list of areas affected by amber warning:

East Midlands

• Derby
• Derbyshire
• Leicester
• Leicestershire
• Lincolnshire
• Northamptonshire
• Nottingham
• Nottinghamshire
• Rutland

East of England

• Bedford
• Cambridgeshire
• Central Bedfordshire
• Essex
• Hertfordshire
• Luton
• Norfolk
• Peterborough
• Southend-on-Sea
• Suffolk
• Thurrock

London & South East England

• Bracknell Forest
• Brighton and Hove
• Buckinghamshire
• East Sussex
• Greater London
• Hampshire
• Isle of Wight
• Kent
• Medway
• Milton Keynes
• Oxfordshire
• Portsmouth
• Reading
• Slough
• Southampton
• Surrey
• West Berkshire
• West Sussex
• Windsor and Maidenhead
• Wokingham

North West England

• Blackburn with Darwen
• Blackpool
• Cheshire East
• Cheshire West and Chester
• Greater Manchester
• Halton
• Lancashire
• Merseyside
• Warrington

South West England

• Bath and North East Somerset
• Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole
• Bristol
• Cornwall
• Devon
• Dorset
• Gloucestershire
• North Somerset
• Plymouth
• Somerset
• South Gloucestershire
• Swindon
• Torbay
• Wiltshire

Wales

• Blaenau Gwent
• Bridgend
• Caerphilly
• Cardiff
• Carmarthenshire
• Ceredigion
• Conwy
• Denbighshire
• Flintshire
• Gwynedd
• Isle of Anglesey
• Merthyr Tydfil
• Monmouthshire
• Neath Port Talbot
• Newport
• Pembrokeshire
• Powys
• Rhondda Cynon Taf
• Swansea
• Torfaen
• Vale of Glamorgan
• Wrexham

West Midlands

• Herefordshire
• Shropshire
• Staffordshire
• Stoke-on-Trent
• Telford and Wrekin
• Warwickshire
• West Midlands Conurbation
• Worcestershire

Yorkshire & Humber

• East Riding of Yorkshire
• North Lincolnshire
• North Yorkshire
• South Yorkshire
• West Yorkshire