The Met Office issued its first red extreme heat warning (Image: PA / Getty)
Experts have warned that thousands of people could die during next week’s heat wave, when temperatures are expected to reach a dangerously high peak.
The Met Office issued its first red warning of extreme heat on Monday and Tuesday and warned that lives could be at risk as mercury appears to reach 40 ° C.
A second COBRA emergency meeting was held on Saturday, after which Cabinet Office Minister Kit Malthouse urged the British to do “neighborly thing” and check the most vulnerable.
Health officials fear those living alone on the upper floors are among those who could be most at risk, as was the case during the deadly heat wave that burned Paris nearly 20 years ago.
Penny Endersby, executive director of the Met Office, described “the extreme heat we are forecasting right now is absolutely unprecedented.”
In a shady video shared online, he added: “Here in the UK we are used to treating a hot period as an opportunity to go play in the sun. This is not that kind of weather.
Our @metoffice forecasters issued the first red extreme heat warning for unprecedented heat in parts of the UK on Monday and Tuesday.
Please take this warning seriously and take steps to keep yourself and those around you safe. #heat wave pic.twitter.com/vjMUsvYtbP
– @MetOfficeCE (@metofficece) July 15, 2022 Monday’s forecast (Image: Met Office) Tuesday is expected to be even hotter (Image: Met Office) The heat wave is poised to reach a dangerously high peak (Image: Alamy Live News.) People have been urged to monitor the most vulnerable to extreme heat (Image: Giannis Alexopoulos / NurPhoto / Rex / Shutterstock)
Schools have announced they will close on Monday and Tuesday, telling students that “they can’t keep the temperature in many of our rooms at an acceptable and safe level.”
People have also been asked not to travel because scorching temperatures could melt the roads and train tracks.
Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, told the Guardian, “We could see between 1,500 and 2,000 dead in this heat period alone.”
Professor Kevin McConway, Professor Emeritus of Applied Statistics at the Open University, told the newspaper: “I think that assuming the weather forecast is approximately correct, it is very likely that there are hundreds or thousands of deaths from excess heat. the next few days.
“It’s possible that because there have been so many warnings about the next high temperatures, people and businesses are taking more precautions than is usually the case in a heat wave, which could reduce the number of deaths in excess. I hope this pass, but I fear there will still be an excess of death on a large scale.
Speaking to LBC, former chief scientist of the government Sir David King said it is “very likely to be the hottest heat wave we have ever experienced in the UK”.
He said: “If you’re even in the shade with a heat of 40 ° C and 80% humidity, you won’t live long. You just can’t get rid of the excess heat. ‘
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Sir David added that his advice would be to “stay home” and recalled the 2003 heat wave in France during which 15,000 people died.
Expert told presenter Matt Frei: “Mention numbers of thousands of deaths.
“I’m afraid the excess deaths on Monday and Tuesday should be anticipated in that range: a few thousand to 10,000.”
Saturday’s daytime temperatures are expected to be around 27 ° C in London, 26 ° C in Cardiff, 23 ° C in Belfast and 21 ° C in Edinburgh.
On Sunday it could reach 30 ° C in the capital, 27 ° C in Cardiff, 24 ° C in Belfast and 23 ° C in Edinburgh.
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Temperatures are expected to rise several degrees further on Tuesday, until the mid-1930s in much of England and Wales.
Temperatures are 50% likely to reach 40 ° C somewhere in the UK, probably along the A1 corridor from London to Scotland through counties such as Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and the North East. with the Met Office it issues its first red. extreme heat warning.
The UK Health Safety Agency has increased its heat health warning from level three to level four: a “national emergency”.
It reaches level four “when the heat wave is so severe and / or prolonged that its effects extend outside the health and social care system … At this level, illness and death can occur between fit and healthy people, not just high-risk groups. ” “, he said.
The UK could see its first recorded temperature above 40 ° C (Image: earth.nullschool.net/SWNS)
Meanwhile, the British have been struggling to buy fans and looser clothes to help them stay cool during the heat wave.
Toolstation retailer said fan sales have risen 641% over the past week compared to the previous week as retailers struggle to stay calm.
The company also said sales of builders ’shorts have increased by 50% and t-shirt sales by 35%.
Firefighters, including South Wales fire and rescue workers, Scottish firefighters and the London Fire Brigade, have issued safety warnings, urging people to act responsibly.
People are warned to responsibly dispose of barbecues, lighted cigarettes and glass bottles, not to burn any rubbish such as garden waste and to use municipal services, and that barbecues should not be disposed of. use on balconies or near sheds, fences, trees, shrubs and garden debris to prevent anything from lighting up.
They are also asking people who are cooling off on waterways to be aware of the cold water shock.
Contact our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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