Rare amber 'extreme heat' warning comes into effect as UK braces for 38C temperatures

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Parts of the country are poised to experience highs of 38C on Thursday, beating the previous record set only last year.

It comes as hosepipe bans and heat warnings remain in place across much of the country, with the Met Office warning of extreme highs in the south-east and London and an amber warning in place for much of the central UK.

The amber warning for an area of England stretching from London to Sheffield, also covers parts of the South East, East Midlands, East of England, West Midlands and South Yorkshire, is in place from 9am to midnight on Thursday.

If the mercury rises above 36C as is forecast, it will be the first August day to see this threshold crossed since 2020, when 36.4C was recorded at Heathrow and Kew Gardens.

The forecast high would also break the current UK heat record for 2026, with previous highs of 38C recorded in Norfolk on June 26.

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Read More: Burnham considers disposable BBQ ban amid heatwave and wildfire risk

Met Office forecaster Alex Burkill said: “Temperatures (in areas covered by the amber warning) could reach highs of around 36, 37, possibly 38C.

“Now when you get these sorts of high temperatures, well that’s when we could see impacts to our infrastructure, our railway lines, our roads, they are not designed for this sort of heat.

“And more people are likely to be impacted by how hot it is with regards to their health.”

He added: “It could be the hottest day of the year so far if we get above 38C, and if we get above 38.5C, well it could be the hottest August day on record, but that’s actually pretty unlikely.”

Alongside the heat alert issued by the Met Office, the UK's Health Security Agency has also issued an amber heat health warning spanning the entirety of the UK.

The UKHSA says that the heat will likely cause a spike in deaths - amid a sweltering summer.

Many Brits will go on waiting for welcome rain - with much of the UK not forecast to see any for at least another week.

The highest temperatures in the heatwaves of June and July were 38C and 35.5C - with 2026 seeing the first time in recorded history that a temperature higher than 35C has been seen in the UK for four consecutive calendar months.

In response to the forecast, firefighters are raising the alarm about potential wildfires spreading across Britain, as the weeks without rain turn parched grass into a tinderbox.

The National Fire Chiefs Council has urged retailers to pull disposable barbecues from the shelves, warning that they could provide the spark that causes a major blaze.

The Prime Minister urged “all retailers big and small” to pull the barbecues from their shelves as he warned extreme heat conditions “could be with us for some weeks yet”.

His comments came after chairing a meeting of the Government’s emergency Cobra committee in response to the prolonged spell of exceptionally hot and dry weather on Wednesday.

England and Wales have already seen as many wildfires this year as in the whole of 2025.

Some 1,017 wildfires have been recorded in England and Wales this year, according to data shared by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), the same as last year’s record-breaking total.

Most major UK supermarkets have suspended sales of disposable barbecues in recent weeks in line with voluntary guidance from the NFCC.

Mr Burnham urged all shops to stop selling them and indicated that an outright ban could be considered in future summers.

He said: “The big risk in terms of risk to the wider regions across the country is the risk of wildfires. What we are seeing is multiple serious incidents across the country.

“Fire services, by and large, are supporting each other through mutual aid to deal with those incidents but we are keeping a very close watching brief on them.

“There is advice to the public here not to use disposable barbecues. We have today confirmed through the National Fire Chiefs Council that the framework restricting the retail sale of those disposable barbecues is being extended.

“Now I would ask all retailers big and small to adhere to that framework.

“Longer term we will look at whether a temporary ban in the summer months is justified.”

The Prime Minister said there had been a “significant number of excess deaths from heat this summer already” and urged the public to follow health advice, including checking in on elderly friends and relatives.

Asked if there was still a case for drilling the outstanding North Sea fossil fuel deposits given the impact of climate change, Mr Burnham replied: “It is really important that we deal today with the situation that we are in right now and we focus on making sure that we have the serious incidents under control across the country, and those incidents are under control.”

He later said: “The bigger questions obviously will come at the right moment in time.

“But I have said that we have had it all but confirmed that this is the hottest summer on record, and as we go through it, we need to realise that these conditions could be with us for some weeks yet.

“There is some rain forecast, but not necessarily rain that will change the situation fundamentally. So we are looking at a dry prospect going forward.”

Nearly three-quarters of England and the whole of Wales are in drought, heaping pressure on water resources for households, agriculture and the environment, and temperatures are expected to climb as high as 38C in some parts of England on Thursday.

A key climate adviser has warned it “gets worse from here” until the greenhouse gas emissions – mostly caused by burning fossil fuels in power plants, vehicles, home heating and industry – behind global warming are cut to zero overall, known as net zero.

Baroness Brown, who chairs the independent advisory Climate Change Committee’s adaptation work, told PA: “We need to remember that this is as good as it gets.

“It gets worse from here. Until we get to net zero, things go on getting worse.”

She also urged the Government to take steps to help the UK adapt to rising temperatures, such as air conditioning in hospitals, schools and for vulnerable families.

In the latest heatwave, rare amber “extreme heat” warnings have been issued by the Met Office for London and parts of the South East, East Midlands, East of England, West Midlands and South Yorkshire from 9am to midnight on Thursday.

Southern Water has applied for a rare drought order which would ban businesses from non-essential water use, including cleaning cars and filling non-domestic swimming pools, saying an “exceptional” lack of rain has threatened supplies in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

It warned that 165,000 people in the Southampton West supply area could face restricted supplies.

Environment Secretary Angela Eagle will decide on the application, which would be the first such ban since May 2006.