An LED sign on a London street heralds extreme warming, London, England, July 19. (Sebastian Gollnow/picture alliance/Getty Images)
The UK will face high temperatures on Tuesday that could break all-time records for extreme heat, a day after parts of the country experienced its hottest night on record.
Temperatures on Monday reached 38.1 degrees Celsius (100.58 degrees Fahrenheit) in Santon Downham in eastern England, making it the third hottest day on record. Authorities have warned that things are likely to get worse.
Tuesday is “set to be even hotter”, Met Office chief executive Penelope Endersby told the BBC, adding there was a better chance of reaching 40C.
“Even probably above that, 41 is not out of the question,” she said. “We even have some 43s in the model, but hopefully it won’t be that high.”
A woman cools off in front of a large fan at Kings Cross tube station during a heatwave in London, England, on July 19. (Dinendra Haria/LNP/Shutterstock)
Earlier this month, the Met Office said the extreme heatwave could put “people’s lives at risk”. In southern Europe, which is also experiencing a heatwave, more than 1,100 people have died in the extreme heat.
The Met Office recently issued its first red extreme heat warning for parts of the country, including London and Manchester, calling the warning “a very serious situation”.
“If people have vulnerable relatives or neighbors, now is the time to make sure they’ve got the right measures in place so they can cope with the heat, because if the forecast is what we think it’s going to be in the red alert area, then people’s lives are at risk,” Met Office spokesman Graham Mudge said.
Many Britons also experienced the country’s warmest night on Monday, the National Weather Service said.
“The highest daily minimum temperature has been temporarily recorded in the UK. Temperatures did not dip below 25C in places, surpassing the previous highest daily minimum record of 23.9C set in Brighton on 3 August 1990,” the Met Office tweeted on Tuesday.
A bit of background: Commuters in the UK capital were urged not to use London’s transport network earlier this week, unless for “essential journeys”, amid a scorching heatwave across Western Europe.
“Due to the extremely hot weather expected next week, customers should only use the Transport for London network for essential journeys,” Transport for London (TfL) chief operating officer Andy Lord said.
Temporary speed limits will be introduced on London’s Tube and rail services “to keep everyone safe”, Lord added, urging passengers to “carry water at all times”.
Extremely high temperatures can damage power lines and signaling equipment. TfL said it would try to keep services running smoothly and use increased checks to ease the impact of the extreme heat.
Regular track temperature checks will be carried out to prevent tracks from bending or warping, TfL said in a statement. The network will also check air-conditioning installations in the metro network and air-cooling systems in the capital’s double-decker buses.
Drivers were also encouraged not to drive during the hottest times of the day.
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