A rare red extreme heat warning has been issued by the Met Office as temperatures are forecast to rise as high as 40C (104F) later this week.
The warning, covering parts of the Midands, south-east Wales and southern England, will be valid from 09:00 GMT on Wednesday to 21:00 on Thursday as exceptionally hot and humid conditions threaten a large swathe of the UK.
The Met Office is also warning of substantial disruption to travel, energy supplies and possibly widespread damage to property and infrastructure.
Red warnings are rare, only issued in the most extreme cases indicating that the weather could bring a risk to life.
Historically we only have around one red warning issued a year, the last being during Storm Goretti in January 2026 when dangerous winds hit Cornwall and the Isle of Scilly.
A red extreme heat warning is even rarer, this being only the second time a red warning has been issued since extreme heat warnings began in 2021.
The previous being issued in July 2022 when we saw the UK’s highest temperature on record of 40.3C in Coninsby.
Forecasters are warning humidity is likely to be significantly higher during this heatwave compared to 2022 and that heat stress is a major concern, even in the general population.
