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The latest heatwave is expected to push temperatures close to record levels for June and result in the hottest ever start to Wimbledon.
Amber heat alerts remain in place until Tuesday evening for all of southern, western and eastern England with a warning of excess deaths particularly among those over 65, and increased demand on health and social care services.
Meanwhile, the London fire brigade has highlighted a “severe” risk of wildfires.
After the temperature rose to more than 30C (86F) in parts of southern England this weekend, it is forecast to hit 34C on Monday. This would make it the hottest day of the year so far, and just short of the UK’s record temperature for June of 35.6C, recorded in Southampton in 1976.
By Tuesday, temperatures are expected to peak at 35C or more, which would be hotter than Barbados.
Wimbledon is set for its hottest opening day on record on Monday and could yet have the highest temperature ever recorded during the tournament.
The hottest ever Wimbledon day was on 1 July 2015, when temperatures reached 35.7C. The hottest opening day on record was 2001 when temperatures hit 29.3C.
The hottest day of the year so far was 33.2C, recorded last weekend in Charlwood, Surrey.
The rising heat, including night-time temperatures of 20C or more, are due to a slight change in wind direction from a westerly to a southerly, forecasters have said. The switch in wind will draw hot air up from Spain and France, where temperatures have been above 40C.
The heatwave is due to end by the middle of the week, when cooler air is expected to move in from the west.
The UK Health Security Agency has issued amber heat alerts for five regions of England: London, the south-east, the east, the south-west and East Midlands. There are less severe yellow warning in force for the West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber and no alerts for the north-west or north-east.
It will stay relatively cooler in the north-west of the UK, with cloud and heavy rain in parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland.
A heatwave becomes official when areas reach a certain temperature for three consecutive days, with thresholds varying from 25C to 28C in different parts of the UK.
London’s assistant fire commissioner, Thomas Goodall, said: “London is already facing its second heatwave of the year and we know that people will be looking forward to getting outside to enjoy the wonderful weather. But the high temperatures and low rainfall in recent months means the current risk of wildfires is severe. As the weather has been so dry, it only takes a few sparks to lead to a fire spreading rapidly.
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“In London, this is can be dangerous because so many of our green spaces lie close to homes and other properties.”
Temperatures hit 40C in the UK for the first time in the summer of 2022, peaking at 40.3C on a July day in Coningsby in Lincolnshire.
Earlier this month the Met Office said there was a 50/50 chance of temperatures soaring to 40C again in the next 12 years as the risk of extreme heat rises due to global heating.
Extreme-heat records have been repeatedly broken in recent months, including Europe’s hottest March ever, according to the EU’s Copernicus climate monitor.
Last year was the hottest in recorded history so far and led to worldwide disasters, costing more than £219bn.
The heatwave in Europe is also expected to continue, but will shift to countries in the south-east of the continent. The Met Office said temperatures were expected to be 5C-10C above normal fairly widely, with some locations continuing to exceed 40C.
