UK weather: Heatwave warning as Hurricane Chris expected to bring soaring temperatures

‘Drink lots of water, use sun tan lotion and protect yourself from the sun’

The Met Office has issued a heatwave warning as Hurricane Chris is expected to send temperatures soaring across the country.

Forecasters have warned people to take extra care as a level two “alert and readiness” heat warning has been put in place in eastern parts of England from 9am Sunday to 9am Tuesday.

Hurricane Chris is expected to trigger soaring temperatures in many parts of the country as it moves up across the northwest of the UK on Saturday night into Sunday – although Met Office meteorologist Mark Wilson says it will no longer be a hurricane.

“Hurricane Chris is now nothing more than an area of low pressure as it moves across the Atlantic,” he told The Independent.

“The only effect it will have is it will bring cloud and rain to the northwest, mainly Scotland and Ireland, and the head of it will bring some hot temperatures.

“There is an 80 per cent chance of heatwave conditions affecting Yorkshire, the Humber, East Midlands, east of England and southeast England.

“Bear in mind it can be especially dangerous for the very young or old during these conditions.

“Drink lots of water, use sun tan lotion and protect yourself from the sun.”

There will be hot sunshine across the country on Saturday and Sunday, with temperatures expected to be widely in the mid to high 20s, getting up to 31C in London.

Scotland and Northern Ireland will see more cloud and outbreaks of rain, which may be heavy at times.

Forecasters are predicting it will turn fresher towards the end of next week, with thundery showers possible on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Heat Health Watch is run by the Met Office and Public Health England and is designed to help healthcare professionals manage through periods of extreme temperature.

It operates in England from 1 June to 15 September each year and acts as an early warning system forewarning of periods of high temperatures which may affect the health of the public.

The heat-health watch system has four levels of response based upon threshold maximum daytime and minimum night-time temperatures.

These thresholds vary by region, but an average threshold temperature is 30C by day and 15C overnight for at least two consecutive days, when they can begin to have a significant effect on people’s health.