Week Ahead – When will it cool down? 18/07/22
The peak of this spell of extreme heat happens on Tuesday. When will it turn cooler and how’s the rest of the week looking? Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern has the Week Ahead forecast.
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00:00Hello. Extreme, unprecedented, record-breaking levels of heat are expected across large parts
00:07of the UK Monday night and Tuesday. Extreme heat, red warning in force for this part of
00:13England. Now that area covers a lot of populated spots and in total it looks like around 32
00:20million people are affected by the red warning. And the Met Office don't issue these red warnings
00:24lightly, they're only issued when there is a threat to life. Amber warning for southern
00:29Scotland and much of England and Wales meanwhile because here as well some serious impacts
00:34could occur as a result of the heat. Now it's worth bearing in mind that Monday has been
00:38a very hot day. Tuesday will be even hotter in many places because it's going to be a
00:45very warm night with temperatures in some places holding up in the low to mid-20s. Looks
00:51likely to be the warmest night on record in the UK so it's the combination of the very
00:55high daytime temperatures and then little relief by night that could cause impacts.
01:01Of course our houses are built to keep heat in a lot of the time and they will certainly
01:05retain a lot of the heat given that temperatures outside won't be dropping very far overnight.
01:10And then these are the temperatures for Tuesday. Extraordinary across much of the UK, widely
01:18low to mid-30s across southern Scotland into northern England. Looks likely to be Scotland's
01:24hottest day on record with 34 or 35 Celsius somewhere around the Lothians or borders.
01:29And then for much of England and Wales also low to mid-30s widely and a large part of
01:35central and eastern England 38 to 40 Celsius, perhaps 41 degrees. Now a number of people
01:40have been saying maps in the past didn't look this dark. Well the fact is that they didn't
01:45because we've never seen temperatures as high as this in the UK before. This colour scale
01:51was designed to, well, not show temperatures like this for the UK. And so extraordinary
01:58levels of heat and serious impacts are possible. What kinds of impacts can we expect? Well
02:04looking back at previous heatwaves it's likely that we'll see health impacts and not just
02:09for vulnerable people but for fit and healthy people if you overexert yourself during the
02:13hottest part of the day. Impacts to transport, to rail networks, to roads, to energy supplies
02:21as well. And so the advice is to look after yourselves and look out for others, especially
02:26those who may be vulnerable, who may be living on their own as well. And you can look after
02:31yourselves by staying hydrated, not exerting yourself during the hottest part of the day
02:37and sticking to the shade where possible and keeping your homes cool by leaving the blinds
02:42open during the daytime. The good news is that it turns much cooler by Tuesday night
02:49and into Wednesday. We're going to see an area of showers move in during Tuesday from
02:54the West and actually Tuesday is a cooler day for the South West as well as Wales and
02:59Northern Ireland as a weather front pushes cloud and showers in from the West. And then
03:05overnight some outbreaks of rain as well for Northern and Western Scotland. And you can
03:10see a couple of cold fronts there and a real marked contrast between that plume of extraordinarily
03:16hot air being pushed aside with more typical summertime conditions returning from the
03:22West. But on Wednesday some heat lingers on in the East. So still another very warm or
03:29hot day across parts of Eastern England. And with those temperatures rising, well we'll
03:34see further showers developing across Central and Eastern areas later, perhaps some longer
03:38spells of rain for Eastern Scotland. Sunny spells follow to the West and you can see
03:42the big change in temperatures. High teens for Scotland, Northern Ireland. Low twenties
03:47for parts of Western England and Wales. But still the potential for 30 Celsius for parts
03:52of Lincolnshire into Yorkshire and East Anglia. The last of that heat then clears away during
03:58Wednesday night. High pressure builds in from the West and that will lead to for most a
04:04fine day on Thursday. A much more comfortable night for sleeping certainly on Wednesday
04:09night. And then Thursday gets off to a start with some sunshine in the South. Thick cloud
04:14further North and some showers scattered in nature for Scotland, Northern England and
04:19Northern Ireland. The best of any sunny spells will be further South. But temperatures, although
04:24they'll still be a bit above average in the South, well I'm not talking the extremes that
04:28we're going to see early this week. 24 to 26 in the South. High teens, low twenties
04:33perhaps further North. Friday once again sees a mixture of sunny spells and showers
04:39across Scotland, parts of Northern England, perhaps Northern Ireland as well. A dry start
04:44to the day further South. But the threat of some thunderstorms potentially moving up from
04:49the South. Some uncertainty about the details of this for Friday afternoon and into the
04:53evening and feeling I think quite muggy in the South. But of course, nowhere near as
04:58hot as how we've started the week. Then later Friday, well we're in a bit of a no man's
05:05land as far as low pressure and high pressure goes. We've got one low clearing high to the
05:10North and then another low coming along for later in the day on Saturday. So that and
05:15it's associated where the front could bring some cloud and rain and a bit more of a breeze
05:19into the West later. So from Wednesday onwards, fairly typical summer time conditions. Nothing
05:26like Monday and Tuesday, the start of this week far from typical summer weather in the
05:31UK. Temperatures we've never experienced before in this country and we're not suited to that.
05:39We're not adapted to cope with those temperatures and that's why there are so many concerns.
05:44And of course we'll keep you updated on the forecast and those warnings and you can follow
05:47the Met Office to find out much more about how you can stay cool in the heat. Bye bye.