- UK records hottest May day, exceeding 35 degrees Celsius.
- Previous May temperature record broken for two consecutive days.
- Heat health alerts issued, with four water-related teen deaths.
London: The UK’s heatwave broke the hottest ever in May record for the second day in a row on Tuesday, with the temperature hitting 35 degrees Celsius in London.
The figure is the highest daily maximum temperature recorded by the UK Meteorological (Met) Office for the month, beating Monday’s record high of 34.8 degrees Celsius, which had already toppled the 1944 record of 32.8 degrees Celsius.
“Today is now the hottest day in May on record with Heathrow and Kew Gardens provisionally reaching 35.0 degrees C,” said the Met Office.
“Until yesterday the highest temperature in May was 32.8°C, but we’ve now exceeded that record on consecutive days by a full two degrees Celsius… This heat would be exceptional in the UK even in mid-summer, let alone in May,” it said. Officially, the Met Office treats the recordings as “provisional” until further verified to be treated as an official national record. “Meteorologically, what we’ve seen is the influence of warmth building under an area of high pressure near the UK allowing exceptional heat to build, allowing maximum and minimum temperatures to reach levels not previously reported at this time of year,” said Met Office Chief Operational Meteorologist Dan Suri. “High pressure is forecast to gradually lose its influence later in the week, though maximum temperatures will still remain high and in the low 30Cs for some mid-week and high 20Cs late this week,” he said. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) renewed its heat health alerts, an early warning system for care services to prepare for soaring temperatures as additional resources and emergency services might need to be deployed. It has also issued amber alerts for parts of the country, which warns of an increase in the likelihood of deaths. The alert came as four teenagers were reported to have died after getting into difficulty in water in different parts of England. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) charity cautioned that sea and other open water temperatures are much lower than the highs being felt during this heatwave. “The sudden cooling of the skin by cold water also causes an involuntary gasp for breath. Breathing rates can change uncontrollably, sometimes increasing as much as tenfold. All these responses contribute to a feeling of panic, increasing the chance of inhaling water directly into the lungs,” it said. According to experts, the number of days when the UK experiences 25 degrees Celsius or more will continue to increase as global temperatures rise. This climate change trend is also said to be increasing the possibility of seeing even 40 degrees Celsius temperatures in the UK.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
