The Met Office has confirmed a full list of 148 areas across the UK that are covered by red or amber extreme heat alerts this week. Birmingham is among the regions under an amber warning, which will escalate to a red alert from Wednesday.
Red alert details
The rare red warning will be in effect from 9am on Wednesday to 9pm on Thursday. It covers a swathe of England, including Northamptonshire, Bedford, Cambridgeshire, Central Bedfordshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Luton, Thurrock, Bracknell Forest, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Greater London, Hampshire, Kent, Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire, Reading, Slough, Surrey, West Berkshire, West Sussex, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Wokingham. In the South West, the red alert applies to Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, Dorset, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, and Wiltshire. In Wales, the following areas are included: Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Powys, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Swansea, Torfaen, and Vale of Glamorgan. The West Midlands is also heavily affected, with Herefordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands Conurbation, and Worcestershire under the red warning.
Amber warning areas
The amber warning runs from midnight on Wednesday to midnight on Thursday and covers a much larger area. It includes Derby, Derbyshire, Leicester, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, and additional areas in the East of England such as Norfolk, Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea, and Suffolk. The South East also sees Brighton and Hove, Isle of Wight, Medway, Portsmouth, and Southampton under amber. In the North West, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Greater Manchester, Halton, Lancashire, Merseyside, and Warrington are included. The South West adds Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Cornwall, Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay. Wales gets further coverage with Ceredigion, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey, Pembrokeshire, and Wrexham. The West Midlands adds Shropshire, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Telford and Wrekin, while Yorkshire sees East Riding of Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.
Impact and advice
The Met Office warned: “Hot and humid weather is expected to continue through the middle of the week, with exceptionally warm temperatures both day and night.” They added that “population-wide adverse health effects are likely to be experienced, not limited to those most vulnerable to extreme heat, leading to potential serious illness or danger to life.” The warning also highlighted that “substantial changes in working practices and daily routines likely to be required” and that “failure of heat-sensitive systems and equipment is likely, with the probable loss of power and other essential services, such as water, electricity, gas or mobile phone services.” Residents are advised to stay hydrated, keep out of the sun during peak hours, and check on vulnerable neighbours.
