Watford could see another heatwave as yellow alert issued

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) heat health alert for the East of England will last from 12pm on Saturday (July 4) to 5pm on Wednesday (July 8).

It comes as the Met Office predicts temperatures could reach 30C and Google Weather suggests it could peak at 31C on the Wednesday.

Watford Camera Club photo taken during last week's hot weather (Image: Luke New/Watford Observer Camera Club)

The UKHSA alerts are provided in partnership with the Met Office but are not the same as the Met Office’s own extreme heat alerts, which begin at amber.

UKHSA warnings focus on those who are particularly vulnerable and so have a lower threshold to kick in.

Temperatures are unlikely to match the 35C peaks seen last week but are still judged to be “likely” to have impacts across health and social care services.

The alert warns of effects including:

• Increased use of healthcare services by vulnerable people
• Greater risk to life of vulnerable people
• Increased potential for indoor environments to become very warm
• Water-related incidents may increase, including risks from cold-water shock and drowning

The Met Office previously said temperatures in the south this week will be in the low to mid-20s before they are expected to rise to the high 20s or early 30s this weekend and into next week.

The UK set a provisional June temperature record of 37.7C on Friday in Lingwood in Norfolk, according to the Met Office.

It beats the previous June record for the UK of 35.6C dating back to 1976 by more than 2C. Such records have usually been broken by only a fraction of a degree in the past.

Google Weather daily temperature forecasts for the next week:  

• Wednesday, July 1: 24C
• Thursday, July 2: 24C
• Friday, July 3: 26C
• Saturday, July 4: 28C
• Sunday, July 5: 29C
• Monday, July 6: 30C
• Tuesday, July 7: 29C
• Wednesday, July 8: 31C