Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

UK weather forecast: Commuters warned to stay at home as Britain braces for hottest day on record

‘We strongly advise you to avoid travelling, if you can’

Chiara Giordano
Wednesday 24 July 2019 11:41 BST
Comments
UK weather: The latest Met Office forecast

Commuters have been warned to stay at home as Britain braces for 39C temperatures on what could be the country's hottest day on record.

Forecasters are predicting temperatures in some parts of the UK on Thursday could top the current record for a July day of 36.7C, set at Heathrow Airport in 2015.

Transport bosses have advised against travelling as railway tracks are expected to buckle in the heat.

National Rail warned metal tracks in direct sunshine can exceed 50C, and speed restrictions will be in place to stop the rails buckling.

A number of railway companies will run a significantly reduced service on Thursday with fewer trains – and some could face speed restrictions as slow as 20mph.

This could lead to travel chaos as people who do need to travel are packed onto fewer trains.

National Rail said: “We strongly advise you to avoid travelling, if you can.”

Large swathes of Britain experienced storms and lightning strikes overnight on Tuesday, with North Wales seeing 15mm of rain in just one hour.

But by Wednesday morning much of the country was already experiencing temperatures above normal for the time of year.

Met Office forecaster Emma Smith said: “Quite a lot of places are back up to 23 or 24 degrees already [at 5am].

“It’s normally 13 or 14 degrees at this time of year, so that’s 10 degrees above average.”

It comes after temperatures across England exceeded 30C on Tuesday, with forecasters predicting even hotter temperatures on Wednesday.

“It will get to 35 degrees on Wednesday, with a small chance it will get to 36C,” said Ms Smith.

The highest overnight average temperature ever seen in the UK was 23.3C in July 1948.

Ms Smith said there was a possibility this would be beaten on Thursday night into Friday.

Temperatures in London are expected to reach 39C on Thursday, which would pass the current record for a day in July recorded as 36.7C at Heathrow Airport in 2015.

Lightning strikes as a thunderstorm passes over houses in Lee Park, Liverpool, Merseyside on 24 July 2019.

The Met Office said there was a 60 per cent chance the UK temperature record of 38.5C, recorded in Faversham, Kent, in August 2003, could be exceeded.

Northern Ireland and western Scotland will be the coolest areas on Thursday, with temperatures in the low 20s.

Train company Southeastern said it would be running a “significantly reduced service” on Thursday due to speed restrictions announced by Network Rail.

Southeastern operates trains in southeast London and Kent and also serves parts of East Sussex.

Great Northern, Gatwick Express, Thameslink, and Greater Anglia are also expected to be affected.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Dr Sam Hampton, a post-doctoral research associate at the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, advised people to wear “lighter, loose-fitting clothing before cranking up the air conditioner”.

He added: “If necessary, air-conditioners should only be run when all the windows are closed.”

In London, police have been searching for three people who went missing in the River Thames on Tuesday evening.

The Metropolitan Police said one swimmer went missing at Shadwell Basin, a second at Waterloo Bridge and a third near Kingston High Street.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in