UK Breaks Hottest June Day Record Again as Santon Downham Reaches 37.3C

Britain broke its hottest June day record for a third day in a row as temperatures reached 37.3C in Santon Downham, Suffolk, prompting the Met Office to lift its rare red extreme heat warning while thunderstorms were set to batter much of Scotland and an amber warning remained in place for heat for most of England.

The BBC said the provisional hottest June temperature was recorded in Santon Downham on Friday and surpassed the high of 36.7C in Merryfield, Somerset, on Thursday, after 36.1C had been recorded in Gosport, Hampshire, the previous day.

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In parallel with the heat, firefighters from Derbyshire and Greater Manchester continued battling a large wildfire on Tintwistle Moor that had been burning since Wednesday, with the LBC live updates describing six fire engines on site to tackle the blaze near Glossop.

The ITVX report said the Met Office issued an “extreme heat” red weather warning covering much of London and the South East, running until 9pm on Friday, while the BBC said a red warning for extreme heat was in place across London, the east and south-east of England until 21:00 BST on Friday.

As the heat eased into the weekend, the BBC reported that Friday night would be warm again in south-east England with lows of 20C expected, while thunderstorms were expected overnight in northern Scotland where a yellow warning was in place.

The heatwave strained NHS services, with LBC stating that three hospitals had declared critical incidents as high demand crippled services, while the BBC said six NHS trusts declared critical incidents after being overwhelmed with patients.

LBC reported that Network Rail warned passengers to only travel if necessary until the weekend as disruption on train lines continues, and the BBC said travel disruption continued into Friday evening rush hour for some with Avanti West Coast, Great Western Railway and Transport for London announcing changes.

BBC

In emergency response, the BBC reported that the London Ambulance Service saw about a 50% increase in 999 calls during the heatwave, and ITVX said LAS saw a 50% increase in life-threatening emergency calls compared with a typical Wednesday in June with the number of cardiac arrests up 30%.

The BBC also quoted Dr Hilary Williams saying “basic ward infrastructure” had been unable to cope, while LBC said people had been warned to drink responsibly and avoid exercising outside amid the punishing heat.

For public guidance, ITVX quoted Craig Harman advising people to drink “plenty of water” in between alcoholic beverages, and the BBC said a red warning for extreme heat meant there was a risk of serious health effects across London, the east and south-east of England until 21:00 BST on Friday.

The BBC described the heatwave as being driven by a “heat dome”, an area of high pressure that traps heat, settling over Western Europe, while the ITVX report said the current heatwave is driven by a “heat-dome” that stalls over a region and traps heat.

LBC said the Met Office’s rare red extreme heat warnings had been lifted after record-setting days, and it added that the Met Office had replaced the red warning with a yellow thunderstorm warning across Scotland and an amber heat warning for London and the south east of England until 9pm on Saturday.

In policy debate, The Guardian reported that Toby Perkins warned ministers of “far short of what is needed” and said the effects of such extreme heat can be disruptive and devastating, while also saying “we will likely see a significant number of deaths as a direct result of the current heatwave.”

The Guardian also quoted Emma Howard Boyd, chair of the National Heat Risk Commission, saying “This week’s extreme temperatures risk losses to the economy of hundreds of millions of pounds due to lower productivity and infrastructure failures,” and it added that more than 1,000 schools had been closed due to the heatwave.

Looking ahead to the weekend, the BBC said thunderstorms were expected overnight in northern Scotland with a yellow warning in place, and it reported that temperatures could reach 32C in south-east and eastern England where an amber warning had been issued.