UK records its highest ever May temperature | UK weather
Severe heat sweeping through Europe over the bank holiday weekend has broken the UK’s all-time temperature record for May; High temperatures of up to 35°C are still expected on Monday afternoon.
33.5C temperature Recorded at London Heathrow At lunchtime on Monday it broke the previous May record, set at Camden Square in 1922 and reached again in Tunbridge Wells and Regent’s Park in 1944, according to provisional Met Office data.
The heat is expected to continue throughout the week, with a peak of 35 degrees expected again on Tuesday. The Met Office is forecasting a high of 31C for Wednesday and 30C for Thursday.
Overnight temperatures on Sunday broke the UK’s highest minimum temperature for May, with Kenley airport recording a low of 19.4C.
Warm weather in Western Europe may be welcomed by many people taking time off work and school, but it is also expected to worsen disease and increase death rates. Last week the UK government’s climate advisers warned that British homes will need air conditioning as global warming reaches unbearable levels.
Dr Chloe Brimicombe, climate researcher at the University of Oxford, said: “Record-breaking temperatures are a reminder of how climate change is affecting our lives in the UK. It highlights the urgency of recent calls for heat adaptation.”
Elderly, pregnant or sick people are especially at greater risk when temperatures fall outside a comfortable range. High temperatures tire the body, and uncomfortably hot nights prevent the body from resting. Amber heat health warnings were issued on Friday, indicating a possible risk to life.
The Heat are known as the “silent killer” because they claim so many lives that are not counted in official statistics. Last summer, scientists linked two out of every three heat-related deaths in European cities to climate disruption.
Drawing curtains, opening windows and planting trees for shade could save lives, but the UK Climate Change Committee said last week that even these measures were likely to be insufficient to cope with the projected rise in temperatures.
He suggested air conditioning be installed in all nursing homes and hospitals within the next 10 years, and in all schools within 25 years. It also called for ensuring maximum temperatures for working indoors and outdoors.
The Met Office said the hot weather experienced over the weekend was caused by the development of high pressure over the country, causing air to sink, compress and warm.
The risk of unnatural extreme temperatures has increased with average global temperatures being pushed higher by the blanket of carbon pollution that is choking the Earth.
Gareth Redmond-King, of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, a think tank, said: “Scientists are clear that cutting these emissions to net zero is the only way to stop climate change and limit the danger. But we also know we will face more extreme heat this year if, as expected, El Niño joins forces with climate change to break more heat records.”
He added: “The Committee on Climate Change made clear last week that adapting to our already warming climate, as well as reducing emissions to net zero, is far less costly than dealing with its increasingly dangerous impacts.”
