Health warning as 30C temperatures set for parts of UK with 5 days of scorching weather

Yellow heat alerts have been issued with the Met Office saying some areas could hit heatwave criteria

Yellow heat health alerts have been issued for parts of the UK as weather experts forecast rising temperatures within days. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has warned the high temperatures will impact health and care services in the affected areas.

The alerts cover three parts of the UK and will run for five days starting on Wednesday at 3pm. They will continue until Monday June 22 at 8pm.

Jonathan Vautrey, meteorologist at the Met Office, warned rising temperatures and humidity will likely come with overcast skies for many. He said: “By Friday there is potential for 30C across parts of south-eastern England. The exact detail of the temperatures is going to be dependent on cloud amounts, because, whilst it is going to be warmer this coming week, there’s actually going to be a reasonable amount of cloud around at times as well – so it’s not going to be sort of wall to wall sunshine every day.

“But those temperatures are going to be rising nonetheless.” He added: “With that, it’s also going to be increasingly humid this time around. “So I think people will certainly be noticing how muggy it starts to feel during the second half of this weekend, and some quite uncomfortable nights for sleeping well, with overnight temperatures in the high teens across south-eastern areas of England.”

The areas covered by the alert are the East Midlands, the east of England, London and the South East. The Met Office has warned temperatures in the South East specifically could reach heatwave criteria by the weekend.

A UKHSA spokesman said on Monday: “Friday is likely to see very warm, locally hot conditions for south-east and some eastern areas of England, with higher humidity and the chance of a few thunderstorms. There is considerable uncertainty for the duration of the very warm conditions however, as a weak weather front moving east into Saturday may bring slightly lower temperatures and fresher conditions.

“However, there is the potential that the weather front stalls toward the South East allowing very warm or hot conditions to linger across, or near to the far south or South East, perhaps then becoming more extensive again into the following week.”

By the end of the week, the West Midlands, parts of the West Country, and areas of Wales are likely to experience warm temperatures around the mid-teens, Mr Vautrey said. Scotland and Northern Ireland, however, are expected to see more cloudy weather and rain over the course of the week, with temperatures in those parts of the UK unlikely to rise above 20C to 21C.

According to the UKHSA website, a yellow heat health alert means there is likely to be a “greater risk to life of vulnerable people” and an “increased use of healthcare services” by this same demographic. There is also an “increased potential for indoor environments to become very warm” and a likely rise in water‑related incidents, including “risks from cold‑water shock and drowning”.