The UK heat record of 38.7°C in July 2019 could be broken in the coming days. An evolution due to climate change caused by human activities, underlines the British Meteorological Institute.
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It’s unprecedented. The British Meteorological Service issued, Friday, July 15, for the first time, a red alert “extreme heat” for Monday and Tuesday in England. Temperatures could exceed records, even the threshold of 40°C.
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“Exceptional temperatures, perhaps records, are likely at the beginning of next week”warned Paul Gundersen, chief meteorologist at the British Met Office. “There is currently a 50% chance that we will see temperatures reach 40°C and an 80% chance that new maximum temperatures will be reached”he added.
The record heat ever recorded in the United Kingdom stands at 38.7 ° C, recorded at the botanical garden in Cambridge (east of England) on July 25, 2019.
️ Temperatures are set to reach exceptional levels over the coming days
⬇️ Here’s the latest on what to expect through the weekend and into next week #vague de Chaleur pic.twitter.com/sO8xZFBdmk
— Met Office (@metoffice) July 15, 2022
nights “exceptionally hot” are also expected, particularly in urban areas. “We hoped never to come to this situation, but, for the first time, we have forecasts that exceed 40°C in the UK”notes Nikos Christidis, climate specialist at the Met Office.
He points out that the “global warming is already influencing the possibility of extreme temperatures in the country”. The risks of reaching 40°C “could be ten times more likely in the current climate than in a natural climate that would not be affected by human influence”, he insists. The Met Office points out that “the frequency, duration and intensity of these events in recent decades are clearly linked to global warming and can be attributed to human activity”.