Britain is bracing for a searing start to the week as a fierce ‘heat dome’ pushes temperatures towards record-breaking highs, with forecasters warning today could be one of the hottest June days ever recorded.
Tennis fans at Wimbledon are facing sweltering conditions on day one of the tournament, with temperatures expected to peak at 34C, potentially surpassing the current opening day record of 29.3C set in 2001.
Hundreds of spectators have already pitched tents outside the All England Club overnight in a bid to secure tickets.
The
Met Office
has issued an amber heat health alert covering London, the East Midlands, the South East, the South West and the East of England, with the warning set to remain in place until 6pm on Tuesday.
The alert marks the second in two weeks and comes as much of southern and central England continues into a fourth consecutive day of extreme heat.
Parts of south-east England could then hit 35C on Tuesday. But, Scotland and
Northern Ireland
face heavy rain and cooler temperatures.
But Britain is not the only country melting in the June heat, with a ‘heat dome’ currently gripping large swathes of Europe and wreaking havoc.
A second amber heat health alert in two weeks came into force on Friday.
The alert, which covers London, the East Midlands, the South East, the South West and the East of England, will last until 6pm on Tuesday.
A weather map shows that
London
and the southeast will experience the highest figures, with 31C expected in the Midlands and 28C in the northwest and west of the country.
The toasty temperatures will threaten the UK’s June record of 35.6C – set in the famously hot summer of 1976.
Emma Raducanu today leads the biggest contingent of British tennis stars to storm Wimbledon in over 40 years – on the hottest ever opening day of the championships.
The UK No 1 is spearheading the nation’s hopes alongside Katie Boulter and Cameron Norrie, while UK men’s top seed Jack Draper kicks off his campaign tomorrow.
It is a bumper year for Britons with an army of 23 players taking over SW19 – the most to get through since 1984.
George Sandhu, Deputy Superintendent at Well Pharmacy, is urging elderly and vulnerable Brits to consider staying in the shade or indoors during the hottest hours of the day.
He said: ‘While many people will be out enjoying the warm weather, elderly and vulnerable Brits who are at greater risk because they can have less control over their exposure to the sun.
‘Overexposure to the sun can lead to people becoming seriously unwell through overheating, dehydration, heat exhaustion and heatstroke.’
On Sunday, firefighters mobilised in several nations to tackle blazes as southern Europeans sought shelter from punishing temperatures of a heatwave that is set to intensify in the coming days.
Fires broke out in France and Turkey Sunday, with other countries already on alert.
Authorities from Spain to Portugal, Italy and France urged people to seek shelter and protect the most vulnerable from the summer’s first major heatwave.
Ambulances stood on standby near tourist hotspots as experts warned that such heatwaves, intensified by climate change, would become more frequent.
In Turkey, forest fires broke out Sunday afternoon in the western Izmir province, fed by strong winds, local media reported.
In France, meanwhile, wildfires broke out in the Corbieres area of Aude in the southwest, where temperatures topped 40C, forcing the evacuation of a campsite and abbey as a precaution.
The country’s weather service Meteo France put a record 84 out of its 101 regional departments on an orange heatwave alert – the second-highest – for Monday.
Spain’s weather service AEMET said temperatures in Extremadura and Andalusia, in the south and southwest, had reached up to 44C Sunday and issued a special warning amid the heatwave.
Several areas in the southern half of Portugal, including Lisbon, are under a red warning until Monday night, said the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA).
Two-thirds of Portugal was also on high alert Sunday for extreme heat and forest fires – as was the Italian island of Sicily, where firefighters tackled 15 blazes Saturday.
In Italy, 21 cities were on high alert for extreme heat, including Milan, Naples, Venice, Florence and Rome.
‘We were supposed to be visiting the Colosseum, but my mum nearly fainted,’ said British tourist Anna Becker, who had travelled to Rome from a ‘muggy, miserable’ Verona.
Hospital emergency departments across Italy have reported an uptick in heatstroke cases, according to Mario Guarino, vice president of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine.
‘We’ve seen around a 10 percent increase, mainly in cities that not only have very high temperatures but also a higher humidity rate. It is mainly elderly people, cancer patients or homeless people, presenting with dehydration, heat stroke, fatigue,’ he said.
In Venice, authorities offered free guided tours for people over 75s in air-conditioned museums and public buildings.
Bologna has set up seven ‘climate shelters’ with air conditioning and drinking water, Florence has called on doctors to flag up the lonely and vulnerable, Ancona is delivering dehumidifiers to the needy, and Rome has offered free access to city swimming pools for those over 70.
In Portugal, several areas in the southern half of the country, including the capital Lisbon, are under a red warning for heat until Monday night, according to the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere.
In France, experts warned that the heat was also severely impacting biodiversity.
‘With this stifling heat, the temperature can exceed 40 degrees in some nests,’ said Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of the League for the Protection of Birds.
‘We are taking in birds in difficulty everywhere; our seven care centres are saturated,’ he said.
It is also attracting invasive species, which are thriving in the more tropical climes.
The
alert
, which covered London, the East Midlands, South East, South West and East of England, will last until 6pm on Tuesday.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) also
issued a yellow alert
for Yorkshire and Humber and the West Midlands for the same time period, with the agency warning of significant impacts across health and social care services.
An amber alert was previously issued for all regions in England on June 19, the first time it had been used since September 2023.
An official heatwave is recorded when areas
reach a certain temperature for three consecutive days
, with thresholds varying from 25C to 28C in different parts of the UK.
London Fire Brigade assistant commissioner Thomas Goodall said: ‘London is already facing its second heatwave of the year and we know that people will be
looking forward to getting outside
to enjoy the wonderful weather.
‘But the high temperatures and low rainfall in recent months means the current risk of wildfires is severe.
‘So far this year, firefighters have responded to around 14 wildfires in the capital.
‘There have also been countless call outs to smaller fires involving grass, trees and in other outdoor spaces, as well as in people’s gardens.
‘During this latest heatwave, it is important everyone acts responsibly to prevent fires from occurring.
‘As the weather has been so dry, it only takes a few sparks to lead to a fire spreading rapidly.
‘In London, this is can be dangerous because so many of our green spaces lie close to homes and other properties.’
There will be a ‘marked difference’ in north-western parts of the UK however, with cloud and heavy rain in parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland, where temperatures will
stay in the mid to high teens
, Mr Lenhert said.
The hottest ever July 1 on record was in 2015, when the temperature hit 36.7C.
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