Health warning for Shropshire as heatwave expected to send mercury even higher

Parts of Britain could see temperatures rise to 35C (95F) towards the end of the week as the heatwave continues.

An amber “heat health watch” warning has been issued covering Shropshire, with the Met Office urging people to stay inside or in the shade.

Sun worshippers basked in the hottest temperature of the year so far on Monday, with a scorching 33.3C (92F) in Suffolk beating the 33C (91.4F) recorded at Porthmadog, North Wales, on June 28.

Temperatures hovered around 21C (70F) in parts of East Anglia and London past midnight, around the average July day time temperature for the region of 19-23C (66-73F) before dropping to around 18C (64F).

Monday’s 33.3C high was recorded at Santon Downham in Suffolk, but it is set to get even hotter with temperatures expected to peak on Thursday and Friday.

The Met Office is predicting a maximum temperature of 28C (82.4F) for Shropshire and Mid Wales on Tuesday, rising to 29C (84.2F) on Wednesday and pushing past 30C on Thursday (86F).

Sleeping is likely to remain difficult as the warm and humid nights continue until Thursday, when there is a chance of thunderstorms overnight.

Much of the region has been feeling the strain in the heat, with firefighters last week saving dozens of fish in Shrewsbury’s Dingle by pumping water from the nearby River Severn.

Becky Mitchell, Met Office meteorologist, said temperatures of 35C were forecast for Thursday in East Anglia and London, adding: “There’s potential it could go even warmer than that."

She said the climbing temperatures are due to warm air coming up from France combined with high pressure across the country.

Health warning

An amber “heat health watch” warning has been issued, covering Shropshire, the West Midlands and much of the south east of England.

The amber, or level three, warning is issued when temperatures are predicted to hit 30C (86F) during the day, and 15C (59F) at night, for at least two consecutive days.

There is a 90 per cent possibility of heatwave conditions between 9am on Monday and 9am Friday in parts of England, mainly in the south and east.

The hottest July day on record is 36.7C (98F), which was reached at Heathrow on July 1 2015.

The Met Office said several places have had 54 consecutive dry days, starting May 30, including a few which have had less than 1mm of rain in the entire 54-day period – the longest spell since 1969, when 70 days passed with no significant rainfall.

The longest run of days with no rain at all this summer so far is 48 days at Brooms Barn, near Bury St Edmunds, since June 5.

A spokesman said: “It’s the driest first half of the summer since 1961.

“For the UK as a whole, we’ve only seen about 20 per cent of the rainfall we’d normally expect throughout the whole summer. Parts of southern England have seen only 6 per cent.”