The Met Office has issued a yellow heat alert for parts of the UK as a new heatwave is set to hit this week which is on track to be hotter than first thought
The latest heatwave set to hit the UK is predicted to be even hotter than initially thought. Forecasts suggest parts of the country, including London, will see soaring temperatures which will rise as high as 35C after weeks without rain.
A fresh heatwave is forecast from Tuesday (July 28) through to Thursday (July 30), with temperatures climbing from 29C on Tuesday. The are expected to peak at a sweltering 33C on Wednesday, before cooling slightly on Thursday to 28C.
When the heatwave was first predicted last week, it was anticipated that the highest temperature would reach 32C. But Wednesday (July 29) is now expected to hit a peak of 33C. Temperatures are due to rise throughout the day, reaching a maximum of 33C between 4pm and 6pm.
WX Charts isn’t offering much respite either, predicting a sticky 32C at 6pm – often considered the worst time for intense heat. The high temperatures aren’t stopping there though, as the Met Office’s long-range forecast, which runs from August 10 to August 24, suggests further heatwaves could occur during that fortnight.
The Met Office’s long-term forecast for the latter half of August states: “Temperatures will probably be above normal and some spells of hot weather and heatwaves are possible, especially in the south,” reports MyLondon.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has alerted to potential “significant impacts” on health and social care services, including an increase in fatalities among the elderly or individuals with health conditions, and a surge in drownings.
The UKHSA said: “The existing yellow heat-health alert for the East Midlands, East of England, South East and London has been upgraded to amber and will be in place from 9am on Tuesday 28 July until 9am on Thursday 30 July.
“A yellow heat-health alert will remain in place for Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands and South West regions for the same time period. There is no alert in place for the North East and North West regions.”
A Met Office weather expert has suggested that UK heatwave thresholds may need to be revised in light of the warming climate, which has led to numerous temperature records being shattered this year.
Heatwave benchmarks for several counties were increased by a degree around four or five years ago, according to senior Met Office meteorologist Marco Petagna.
The expert stated: “Going forward they’ll need to be adjusted to take into account… current climate, otherwise we’re going to more frequently go into heatwaves. It’s a moveable thing, really, as we go through a warming world.”
A yellow heat warning has been issued from 9am on Tuesday to 9am on Friday for the East and West Midlands, the south-east, south-west and east of England, as well as Yorkshire and the Humber.
July was 3C above the average across the UK, based on preliminary Met Office data for the month so far. This could rank it among the hottest three or four Julys on record, stated Mr Stroud.
Southern England has received just 1% of its typical July rainfall. England has had just 5% and the UK overall 20%, according to the Met Office. Met Office data show some places in the country have had weeks without rain. Wisley, in Surrey, has had 40 consecutive “dry days”, in which no or only a trace of rain has been recorded, while Herstmonceux, West End, in East Sussex has had 37 dry days.
A number of other sites including Heathrow in London and spots in Worcestershire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Lincolnshire have all recorded more than 30 consecutive dry days.
But this summer is not a record-breaker in terms of low rainfall. Met Office figures show summer 2026 has had 111.7 mm of rain so far, making it already wetter than the record dry summer of 1995, which had 105.9mm of rain from June to August. And than the second-driest summer, the drought year of 1976.
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