UK Weather: Met Office Issues Heatwave Alert

The UK enjoyed the hottest day of the year so far on Monday, June 25, with the mercury reaching 29.4 C at St James's Park in London. The Met Office issued an alert earlier on Monday, warning there was an 80 percent likelihood of heatwave conditions between 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday until 6:00 p.m. on Thursday in parts of the country. The alert reads, "Dry and sunny weather will lead to temperatures gradually trending upwards during the coming week. By Tuesday, isolated spots in the North and West are likely to see temperatures exceeding their thresholds." The weather agency said that the warning is likely to be extended from Thursday onward, with other areas likely to be included. There is no official UK definition of a "heatwave" but the term describes an extended time of hot weather relative to conditions of the local climate. Chief Meteorologist Frank Saunders warns that heatwave conditions are expected this week accross the UK, with temperatures set to top 30 C in some parts. “As warmer air from the continent moves towards the UK from Wednesday, temperatures will climb into the mid to high 20s quite widely, even in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland," he said. "By this stage, some places in England and Wales will very likely top 30 Celsius—it’s not unlikely somewhere could reach 32 Celsius. With almost wall-to-wall sunshine we’ll certainly be looking at conditions which many of us would call a heatwave.” According to Public Health England's Heatwave plan, children are advised not to do vigourous exercise on very hot days where temperatures exceed 30 C. The record for the hottest UK temperature recorded in June was 35.6 C at Camden Square on 29 June 1957 and Southampton on 28 June 1976.