It’s hot. Not just warm, but proper oven-mode hot.
We are staring down another heatwave in the UK this weekend. Forecasters aren’t guessing anymore either—temperatures are set to punch past 30°C.
For some of us, this is already the third time this year the thermometer has spiked into dangerous territory. Exhausting, isn’t it?
Here is where the heat will bite. Southern and south-eastern England look to take the brunt of it. We could see highs climbing toward 33°C. If you are north of there, say in South Yorkshire, 30°C is on the cards. Everywhere else gets slightly merciful relief. The west, particularly.
It won’t be as brutal as that record-shattering late-June episode, but there is a catch. It will last. Significantly longer. We are talking about a bake that might not break a sweat until mid-month.
The culprit? High pressure rolling in from the Azores. It’s building up over the country over the weekend. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the temperatures start their climb. Monday looks to be the turning point. From there, the mercury keeps ticking up across England and Wales, peaking somewhere in the middle or end of the week.
Does it meet the definition? Possibly. If the heat holds for three days straight, we officially hit heatwave criteria.
The map paints a clear picture. The highest readings stay fixed on southern and eastern England. Those areas will widely see temperatures push past 30°C. Up in the north-east and eastern Scotland, expect the mid-to-high 20s. Pleasant enough, perhaps. Until the humidity sets in.
The western coast gets a pass.
An Atlantic breeze will act like a natural air conditioning system, capping temperatures in Lancashire, the Lake District western Scotland and Northern Ireland at a more bearable low-to-mid-20s.
So we have a coast-to-continental divide. Warm inland. Cooled off the shore.
Models suggest this isn’t a quick flash in the pan. Most indicators show the hot spell persisting into the middle of July. It won’t touch the record numbers we saw back in June, but duration matters just as much as intensity when the body starts to tire.
Health authorities are moving. The UK Health Security Agency has issued Yellow heat health alerts for swathes of the country.
We are talking about:
– The East Midlands
– The West Midlands
– The East of England
– London
– South-east England
– South-west England
The alerts kick in from noon Saturday through to 20:00 BST on Saturday, 11 July. The warning is straightforward: health risks are up. Specifically for the vulnerable. The elderly. Those with existing conditions. Heat sickness isn’t just uncomfortable, it’s dangerous.
By the way, do you actually know what constitutes a heatwave in the UK?
It is specific. At least three consecutive days where maximum temperatures hit or exceed regional thresholds. Those numbers shift by postcode. In much of the country, that bar is set around 25°C. London and the south-east? The threshold is higher, closer to 28°C, because they bake so often it has to get really serious before anyone officially reacts.
During these periods, the risk of heat-related illness skyrockets. Especially if you don’t have robust health to begin with.
The sun comes out. The clouds retreat. And for a few more days, we just have to wait it out.
