Image source, BBC Weather Watchers / Buffy’s PlaceByBen RichLead Weather Presenter
Amber and yellow heat health alerts come into effect across much of England on Monday, with temperatures expected to reach 34C in some areas.
The amber alerts, issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), cover London, the South East, the East of England and the East Midlands, from 9:00 BST until the same time on Wednesday 5 August.
The alerts warn that significant impacts are likely across health and social care services due to the high temperatures, including a rise in deaths, particularly among vulnerable people.
Less severe yellow heat heat alerts have also been issued for the same period for the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands and the South West.
The North East is currently the only English region without a heat health alert.
The updated warnings replace those issued during last week’s heatwave and reflect a fresh spell of potentially hazardous temperatures expected to affect millions across the country.
Monday is expected to bring the hottest weather of the week, with a surge of hot air moving north from France ahead of an approaching Atlantic low-pressure system.
Southern and eastern parts of England will widely reach low to mid-30sC, with a few locations across London and the Home Counties likely to reach 34C.
Much of the Midlands, East Anglia and southern England will see temperatures reach around 30C or above, while eastern parts of Wales will also experience unusually hot conditions.
Scotland, Northern Ireland and western Britain will experience cloudier skies with outbreaks of rain as low pressure slowly moves across Ireland.
Overnight into Tuesday, rain in northern and western areas is expected to become locally heavy and thundery.
Further south, most places will stay dry, warm and humid, although a few thunderstorms could develop across south-east England.
By Tuesday the low-pressure system will drift slowly north-eastwards, bringing another day of wet weather to northern parts of the UK.
Scotland is expected to bear the brunt of the rainfall once again, with prolonged heavy rain raising the risk of localised surface water flooding.
While some rain may spread into southern Britain, it is expected to be relatively light and patchy.
The hottest conditions will become confined to eastern England, where temperatures could still reach the low 30s Celsius, particularly across East Anglia and London.
Elsewhere across southern England and the Midlands, temperatures will ease back into the mid to high 20s Celsius, several degrees lower than Monday.
A weak, cold front will bring cooler Atlantic air from midweek, ending the brief heat.
Scotland and Northern Ireland will see further heavy rain, while southern England stays warmer and mostly dry before more settled weather returns later in the week.
However, little rain is expected in the drought-hit south, with any showers unlikely to provide meaningful relief after one of England’s driest Julys on record.
Image source, BBC Weather Watchers / TAGLooking beyond this week’s brief heat spike, August is expected to remain predominantly warm, dry and above average in temperature.
Although occasional showers and thunderstorms are likely, particularly in northern parts of the UK, the overall pattern favours further settled weather, especially across southern England, meaning drought conditions are likely to persist despite isolated bursts of rainfall.
The details of the longer-range forecast do look rather uncertain so it is worth keeping up to date with full local forecasts on the BBC Weather website and app.
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