Senior government officials met to discuss plans for the first heat emergency in a bid to deal with rising temperatures, according to the Telegraph. A national emergency is declared when hot weather is so extreme that “illness and death can occur in healthy and vulnerable people”, the UK’s Health Safety Agency says. ‘Danger to life’ as Met Office issues rare warning. railway bridge catches fire in high temperatures – Live Weather Updates If implemented, it could cause widespread disruption to schools, travel, health services and even nuclear power plants. There could also be the possibility of local restrictions on tube use, especially in the south, if high temperatures persist. It comes after the Met Office issued an orange weather warning for extreme heat in parts of the UK on Sunday, as temperatures are expected to soar into the 30s. The rare warning means there may be danger to life or possible serious illness as a result of the weather. Enforced throughout the East Midlands, East of England, London, South East, North East, North West, South West, Wales, West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber. “At the moment, we’re looking at a 30% chance of seeing the hottest temperature on record in the UK, if that happens we’ll have to record a higher than 38.7C – which was back in 2019 in Cambridge,” said the forecaster. Met Office. Simon Partridge. “Technically, if we don’t get below 20C overnight, that qualifies as a tropical night, so parts of Yorkshire – which sounds ridiculous – will have a tropical night tonight,” he added. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 2:26 How do people handle the heat? Train delays, driver advice and chain development However, the sunshine can cause some issues, such as road closures and delays or cancellations of rail and air travel. Network Rail has warned that speed restrictions are likely to be in place this week on the worst-affected parts of the network. For those driving, the RAC has advised to carry water in the car and start journeys earlier in the day. Fire services have also urged people to have picnics instead of barbecues during the hot weather after a number of grass fires. In Hampshire, the council said it was preparing to deploy chains to protect cars from melting roads. In Lincolnshire, high temperatures have caused a key RAF base to ground flights after the tarmac melted in the sun. Some parts of the UK have already seen record temperatures, with Wales recording its hottest day of the year so far after the mercury hit 28.7C in Cardiff’s Bute Park on Monday. On the same day, temperatures reached 30C in England, with Northolt, west London, recording 32C. The railway tracks at Battersea Bridge, in central London, caught fire as a spark ignited wooden beams after speed restrictions were introduced to stop the railway tracks bending in the heat. Elsewhere, Aboyne in Aberdeenshire, Scotland had a temperature of 27.5C and it was 24.2C in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Image: Flames leap from the railway bridge in Battersea, London. Photo: Network Railway What’s the weather like for the rest of the week? The Met Office says the mercury is forecast to hit 30C in London, Chelmsford, Essex, and Sudbury, Suffolk, on Tuesday, while the rest of England is expected to see highs well into the 90s. 20. The whole of England is expected to see sunny days with some cloud cover next week to match temperatures in the mid to high 20s. It will cool down a bit on Friday, with rain forecast for the north-west and north-east of England with temperatures reaching 19C. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 2:11 Is it hotter more often? Read more: Top tips for staying cool in the heat – including a trick used by the Royal Navy Temperatures are expected to reach 32C in Reading and London on Sunday and above 35C in the south-east. Scotland and Northern Ireland, meanwhile, are set for a cloudier week, with rain forecast for Tuesday and Friday. Weather forecast models suggest it is possible – although not likely – that temperatures will reach 40C in the UK next weekend. It would be the first time the temperature was recorded in the country.
