UK set for fourth heatwave this week

The UK is set for its fourth heatwave this week - and it may not be the last of the summer.

Temperatures are expected to climb again this week after a brief reprieve over the weekend.

Parts of southern England will yet again meet their heatwave criteria on Wednesday, which could reach highs of 32C or 33C, and more will on Thursday.

A yellow heat alert has been issued from 9am on Tuesday to 9am on Friday for the East and West Midlands, the southeast, southwest and east of England, as well as Yorkshire and the Humber.

But forecasters are expecting this week's hot spell to be a "north-south split", with clouds and outbreaks of rain continuing in Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England.

The UK Health Security Agency has issued a warning of possible "significant impacts" on health and social care services, including a rise in deaths among the elderly or people with health conditions, and an increase in drownings.

Emergency services are also braced for further wildfires.

"With the Met Office warning that a fourth heatwave could develop this week, bringing another period of very hot weather to parts of the UK, fire and rescue services remain on alert and are continuing to prepare for renewed wildfire risk," a National Fire Chiefs Council spokesperson said.

"Most wildfires are preventable and we are asking everyone to play their part in helping to protect our communities, wildlife and natural spaces, while easing the pressure on firefighters who have already faced an exceptionally challenging summer."

This week's heatwave may not be the last of the summer, according to the Met Office's long-range forecast.

"[The weather] is a bit more changeable in the short term, but as we head more into August there are hints that conditions will settle down and become drier again", said the Met Office's senior operational meteorologist Marco Petagna.

It comes after North Wales and the Upper Severn became the first part of the UK to declare drought status on Thursday last week, with parts of Exeter, Devon and Usk in Wales meeting their heatwave threshold for 20 consecutive days.

No rain has fallen in July in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and West Sussex, and 16 counties have recorded 0.1mm, which Mr Petagna said "might just be a bit of dew on the grass".

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The UK has had 20% of its average July rainfall, which takes into account the wetter areas.

It is "very, very unusual" for a hot and dry spell to last this long, Mr Petagna added.

The dry conditions come after last year's drought summer, with the UK facing more extreme weather fuelled by human-caused climate change.

Meanwhile, wildfires continue to burn in the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland, across the Rhinogydd mountains in North Wales and Blaenavon in South Wales.

The last week has also seen blazes on heathland on the Isle of Wight, woodland in the New Forest and fields in Tadley in Hampshire.

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