The warning covers Monday and Tuesday, when temperatures in England may reach 40C (104 F) for the first time, the U.K Met Office said. The British record is 38.7C (101.7F), set in 2019.
The alert comes as scientists say climate change is increasing the likelihood of exceptional heat waves in Britain, a country better known for gray skies and rain. The chances of temperatures like those forecast for next week are already 10 times higher than they would be without the influence of human activity, said Nikos Christidis, a Met Office climate scientist.
“We hoped we wouldn’t get to this situation, but for the first time ever we are forecasting greater than 40°C in the U.K.,” Christidis said in a prepared statement. “In a recent study we found that the likelihood of extremely hot days in the U.K. has been increasing and will continue to do so during the course of the century.”
The U.K. Health Security Agency increased its own hot weather alert to the highest level, putting it to “national emergency.” The warning system was created in 2004, when concerns about climate change spurred authorities to develop their first plan to protect the public from severed heat. | via Associated Press
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