Met Office issues yellow heat health alert as temperatures expected to hit up to 27C in areas including Lymington, New Milton, Totton, Lyndhurst and Christchurch by Wednesday
THE hottest weather of the year may be on its way this week thanks to a delayed heatwave which could send temperatures above 30C – triggering a Met Office warning.
Much of England is being transported back to the earlier summer temperatures thanks to a shift in the jet stream, which is dragging a plume of hot air across most of the country.
The Met Office has confirmed that many areas in England will experience a heatwave this week, with the very best of the weather in southern and eastern areas.
Forecasters say temperatures could now go above 30C between Wednesday and Thursday.
This could beat the highest temperatures of 2023 recorded so far, which were on 10th June and 25th June, when the mercury rose to 32.2C.
In Lymington the hottest temperatures will be seen on Wednesday, with highs of 26C.
New Milton and Christchurch will have slightly cooler highs of 26C and 24C on the same day while Totton and Lyndhurst are both expected to reach 27C.
As a result of the temperatures, the UK Health Security Agency has issued a yellow heat health alert for large parts of the UK, which highlights the risk that such sustained high temperatures can pose to the vulnerable such as the elderly and very young.
The unseasonably hot weather coincides with a return to school for most pupils.
Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Mark Sidaway said: “While the highest temperatures are expected in the south, heatwave conditions are likely across much of England and Wales.
“An active tropical cyclone season in the North Atlantic is helping to amplify the pattern across the north Atlantic, and has pushed the jet stream well to the north of the UK, allowing some very warm air to be drawn north.”
Alongside very high daytime temperatures it is also expected to be “uncomfortably warm” overnight, says the Met Office, where night time temperatures could hover above 20C.
