Amber heath-health alerts issued for most regions in England from Tuesday to Friday
Andrew Gregory
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has updated heat-health alerts for nine regions in England, warning that rising temperatures this week may increase health risks, particularly for vulnerable groups.
Amber alerts will be in place for Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands, East Midlands, East of England, South East, London, South West and North West regions from 9am on Tuesday 11 August to 9pm on Friday 14 August. The North East will be under a yellow alert during the same period.
Polly Ashmore, acting consultant in Public Health at the UK Health Security Agency, said:
It’s important that everyone is aware of the simple steps they can take to stay safe during periods of hot weather. Drinking plenty of water, avoiding the sun during the hottest part of the day and keeping indoor spaces cool are all things you can do to keep yourself and others safe.
For vulnerable groups including older adults and those with existing health conditions, warmer weather than result in serious health outcomes.
We urge health and social care services to ensure they are prepared and encourage people to check on vulnerable friends and family to make sure everyone is aware of the forecast, follows the necessary advice and stays safe in this period of hot weather.
Key events
Afternoon summary
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Drought is expected to be declared in more areas of England later today as parts of the UK brace for the fifth heatwave of the summer.
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All of Wales and more than half of England are already in drought after an unprecedented period of dry, hot weather.
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The National Drought Group, whose members include the government, water companies, the National Farmers’ Union, the Met Office and conservation experts, are meeting on Monday and are expected to declare more regions in England in drought.
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The UK Health Security Agency earlier today updated heat-health alerts for nine regions in England, warning that rising temperatures this week may increase health risks, particularly for vulnerable groups.
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Amber alerts will be in place for Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands, East Midlands, east of England, south-east, London, south-west and north-west regions from 9am on Tuesday to 9pm on Friday. The north-east will be under a yellow alert during the same period.
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Temperatures could reach 36C (97F) or higher this week, forecasters have said, with the heat peaking in some spots on Thursday.
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The extended period of dry and hot weather, intensified by the climate crisis, has led to over 20 million people being subject to hosepipe bans as water supplies are placed under serious strain with rivers and reservoirs running dangerously low.
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The National Farmers’ Union has warned the drought could lead to shortages of certain foods in Britain, with farmers describing a “brutal harvest” for crops and a lack of feed for livestock.
Polly Ashmore, acting consultant in public health at the UK Health Security Agency, has urged people to take simple steps to stay safe, such as drinking plenty of water, keeping indoor spaces cool and avoiding the sun at the hottest part of the day.
“For vulnerable groups including older adults and those with existing health conditions, warmer weather can result in serious health outcomes,” she said.
“We urge health and social care services to ensure they are prepared and encourage people to check on vulnerable friends and family to make sure everyone is aware of the forecast, follows the necessary advice and stays safe in this period of hot weather.”
We are still anticipating the National Drought Group, whose members include the government, water companies and conservation experts, will declare more areas of England in drought after they have met this afternoon.
Liz Bentley, the chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that she predicted north-west England would be among the areas where drought could be declared later today. You can read this post to see the regions already declared to be in drought.
Here are some of the latest images being sent over the newswires as swathes of England and all of Wales experience drought:
Ajit Niranjan
Supercharged by fossil fuel pollution, a string of heatwaves have hit Europe since the end of spring, with particularly brutal heat at the end of June expected to have resulted in more than 10,000 deaths.
The EU’s Copernicus climate change service said widespread dryness observed in May and June intensified last month, with exceptionally low rainfall and soil moisture in much of western Europe.
Across the dry regions, which include France, Spain, and parts of Germany and the UK, low river flows hit water supply, irrigation and power plants, including in countries downstream.
Short of cooling water, two coal-fired power plants were forced to shut in Poland last week, as well as Hungary’s sole nuclear power plant, for the first time in its 44-year history.
Heat and drought are among the biggest environmental threats to Europe’s economy. Early estimates for this summer suggest the June heat cost grain farmers €2bn in lost crops. You can read more here:
Met Office spokesperson Grahame Madge said that, after fresher conditions on Monday, “the heat really comes back in for a time, and will peak on Thursday.
“We’re expecting values to be in the mid 30Cs, and possibly highest in the East.”
Downing Street defended the government’s response to the heatwave and wildfires, with a meeting of the national drought group being held on Monday bringing together ministers, officials and the water companies.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson said:
We know these conditions are having a significant impact on communities, farmers and businesses across the country.
Our climate is changing. Droughts are becoming more common, which is why we’re focused on both the immediate response and long-term resilience.
That includes working through the national drought group with the Environment Agency, water companies, farmers, and environmental organisations to protect water supplies and minimise environmental damage.
And we’re also backing major investment in water infrastructure, including new reservoirs, whilst making clear that water companies must do more to cut leaks and improve resilience.
An 18-year-old died after getting into difficulty in the sea at Camber Sands beach, East Sussex, yesterday, bringing the number of deaths in open-water incidents over the hot, dry summer to over 40, according to estimates compiled by the Press Association.
Amber heath-health alerts issued for most regions in England from Tuesday to Friday
Andrew Gregory
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has updated heat-health alerts for nine regions in England, warning that rising temperatures this week may increase health risks, particularly for vulnerable groups.
Amber alerts will be in place for Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands, East Midlands, East of England, South East, London, South West and North West regions from 9am on Tuesday 11 August to 9pm on Friday 14 August. The North East will be under a yellow alert during the same period.
Polly Ashmore, acting consultant in Public Health at the UK Health Security Agency, said:
It’s important that everyone is aware of the simple steps they can take to stay safe during periods of hot weather. Drinking plenty of water, avoiding the sun during the hottest part of the day and keeping indoor spaces cool are all things you can do to keep yourself and others safe.
For vulnerable groups including older adults and those with existing health conditions, warmer weather than result in serious health outcomes.
We urge health and social care services to ensure they are prepared and encourage people to check on vulnerable friends and family to make sure everyone is aware of the forecast, follows the necessary advice and stays safe in this period of hot weather.
Chessington theme park forced to close due to water outage
Caroline Davies
Chessington World of Adventures Resort theme park was forced to close today due to a water outage affecting the local area.
The Surrey theme park, a popular attraction near London offering adventure rides, a zoo and sea life centre, said it was working closely with Thames Water and local partners to support as “safe and timely resolution”.
While a closure notice was published on its website this morning, some visitors had already arrived at the site. Those with affected tickets were told that under its “Returns Promise” tickets would be automatically be revalidated for future dates.
A spokesperson from Chessington World of Adventures said:
We are currently experiencing operational disruption due to a water outage affecting the local area affecting the attraction. As a result, the attraction is closed today while our teams work closely with Thames Water and local partners to restore normal operations as quickly and safely as possible.
We appreciate the patience and understanding of our guests and can confirm that anyone impacted will be automatically revalidated under our Return Promise. The safety of our guests and employees remains our highest priority.
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Staff are said to be following established operational and safety procedures to manage the situation, with the safety and wellbeing of guests, employees and partners remaining the highest priority.
The park said it would continue to communicate regularly and provide updates. The theme park closure comes at peak trading time for the attraction in the middle of the school summer holidays.
Its website states guests have up to nine months to revalidate their tickets. However, in exceptional circumstances, guests can contact its customer services team, who can review requests on a case-by-case basis.
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We’re sorry to customers in the Chessington area who are currently without water, and to anyone whose plans to visit Chessington World of Adventures Resort have been affected following today’s outage.
“Our specialist team is on site and have located a burst water main on Leatherhead Road. Repairs are under way and we are working as quickly and safely as possible to restore supplies. Once the repair is complete, water should begin returning to taps.”
Bethan McKernan
England had just 7% of the long-term average rainfall for July and southern England just 1%, damaging greenery in parks, protected land and sports fields.
The dry spell has also led to shrinking rivers and lakes: the Thames at Reading has recorded its lowest ever level.
The Met Office predicts that the climate crisis will make UK summers 1C-6C (1.8F-10.8F) hotter and up to 60% drier by 2070, compared with 1990.
As the climate crisis supercharges “whiplash” wet-then-dry weather, the UK and Europe are seeing back-to-back heatwaves that encourage vegetation to grow but then dry it out, producing ideal fuel for fires.
You can read more here:
Firefighters working to put out ‘devastating’ fire in the New Forest National Park
Firefighters are trying to put out a fire on internationally protected heathland in the New Forest National Park in Hampshire, southern England, which is said to have started after a vehicle caught fire on the nearby A31 on Sunday.
“It’s rare heathland which globally is more rare than rainforest with lots of rare species,” a spokesperson for the New Forest National Park Authority said. She added:
We have the highest concentration of lowland heathland in western Europe and it’s internationally protected. It is home to all six UK native reptiles, Dartford warblers, nightjars, insects – it’s devastating.
The spokesperson said that it was too early to tell how much damage had been caused because the incident was still ongoing.
Several wildfires have broken out in the UK over recent weeks amid the hot and dry weather, including large blazes at Holme Fen, a peatland nature reserve near Peterborough, Dunwich Heath in Suffolk, Headon Warren on the Isle of Wight, Llanwonno in the Rhondda Valleys, south Wales and the Cairngorms national park in Scotland.
There is no single definition for a drought, but one way of describing it is a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, leading to a shortage of water.
The Environment Agency defines three main types of drought, which can occur separately or together. They are:
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Agricultural drought: when there isn’t enough rainfall and moisture in soils to support crop production or farming practices.
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Environmental drought: when lack of rainfall has a negative impact on the environment and ecology.
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Water supply drought: when a lack of rainfall leads to concerns from water companies about supplies for their customers.
What areas are already officially in drought?
As we mentioned in the opening post, the whole of Wales and half of England has already been declared in drought. Here is a full list of the affected areas in England:
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East Anglia
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Hertfordshire and London
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Thames Valley
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Hampshire and the Isle of Wight
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Devon and Cornwall
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The West Midlands
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Wessex (covering Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire and south Gloucestershire)
More than 25 million people face restrictions on water use, according to the Environment Agency, with millions under hosepipe bans, including all South East Water and Thames Water customers.
Another record is likely to tumble this week after Sunday was the 34th day this year on which temperatures exceeded 30C somewhere in the UK, equalling the record set in 1995.
The extreme weather of summer 2026 has so far included two record-breaking heatwaves in May and June that were linked to more than 2,800 excess deaths.
Two further heatwaves in July, along with the driest July in England and Wales since records began in 1836, have fuelled drought and wildfires.
The EU’s Earth observation programme, Copernicus, said average temperatures across western Europe reached 21.61C for June-July, breaking the record set in 2022. Globally, this year is just behind 2024 and 2025 as the hottest on record.
Warning of likely impact to health service as amber heat alerts issued for swathes of England
Amber heat-health alerts have been issued for five regions of England from 9am on Tuesday until 6pm on Wednesday: the West Midlands, East Midlands, south-east, London, and the east of England.
Amber alerts mean an increased likelihood of health impacts for those aged 65 and older and people with pre-exisiting conditions, although there may also be impacts to younger people too. The weather impacts are likely to be felt across the whole health service under this category, which is below red, the most severe.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has also issued a yellow heat-health alert for the north-east and north-west, which are under a yellow alert for the same period. The south-west of England and Yorkshire and the Humber regions are already under a yellow alert, which remains in place.
According to the UKHSA, yellow alerts are issued when most people are unlikely to be affected by the weather, but could impact those who are particularly vulnerable.
Dr Paul Coleman, consultant in public health at the UKHSA, said:
Temperatures are forecast to rise above 30°C across central and southern parts of the country over the next few days, and generally hot weather is expected across most regions of England.
These kind of temperatures can result in serious health outcomes across the population – particularly in those who are vulnerable, such as the elderly or those with serious health conditions – so it is important that everyone takes sensible precautions while enjoying the sun.
More parts of England expected to be declared in drought as fifth heatwave of summer looms
The National Drought Group (NDG) is expected to meet this afternoon and declare that more parts of England are officially in drought, as parts of the UK head into a potential fifth heatwave of the year this week.
All of Wales and more than half of England are already in drought after an unprecedented period of dry, hot weather over the summer.
The NDG includes the Met Office, the government, regulators, water companies, the National Farmers’ Union, the Canal & River Trust, anglers and conservation experts.
It reviews the impacts of droughts and helps draw up mitigation plans to respond to them as wildfire risks increase, rivers run dangerously low and food production/security is affected by long periods of little or no rainfall.
The lack of rainfall has seen millions of people be put under temporary hosepipe bans, with water supplies having been severely depleted, particularly in the south and south-east.
The heat and continuing drought conditions are being intensified by the worsening climate crisis, putting huge pressure on vulnerable people, critical infrastructure and wildlife across affected areas.
Temperatures could reach 36C (97F) or higher this week, forecasters have said. Monday will be slightly cooler before temperatures rise again on Tuesday.
