Tens of millions of Britons are now in heatwave conditions as the soaring temperatures spread to two-thirds of the country. The mercury has jumped above 30C in many parts of the UK today (July 11), with the hot weather continuing over the weekend.
The Met Office has forecast temperatures to peak at 33C or even 34C today and tomorrow (July 12) as high pressure continues to charge in. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has also issued amber and yellow Heat Health Alerts covering the whole of England, valid until Monday (July 14). The Met Office states a heatwave is defined when a location records at least three consecutive days with daily maximum temperatures meeting or exceeding the temperature threshold.
According to temperature maps, 22 local authority districts reached the Met Office threshold for heatwave conditions today, bringing the total number to 237 of the 361 areas across the UK. You can check our interdactive map below to see if your local authority district is currently meeting this threshold:
Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Steve Willington, said: “The current heatwave is more widespread than previous heatwaves this summer. Temperatures are likely to locally approach 30°C tomorrow (Saturday) over Northern Ireland and 31 or even 32°C over parts of Scotland, away from eastern coasts.
“Conversely, eastern parts of England will be a little cooler tomorrow than today, although still very warm or hot again away from eastern coastal counties where an onshore breeze will limit temperatures closer to high teens or low to mid-twenties.
“Very warm nights are likely, especially for some western parts of the UK. In addition to the usual urban locations some of the the warmest temperatures are expected to the lee of, and over, high ground in the west, with parts of western Wales, southwest and northwest England and western Scotland locally seeing overnight lows holding up into the high teens or even low twenties.
“Sunday looks like being a little cooler than Saturday, but 30°C is still likely across central and southern parts of England and eastern Wales, with locally 31°C possible. For updates on the latest information, keep an eye on the Met Office forecast as the picture develops.”