Muhammad Mussa
10 August 2022•Update: 11 August 2022
LONDON
A four-day heat alert has been issued in the UK as temperatures are expected to reach 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) across the country this week.
The UK Met Office’s amber extreme heat warning means there could be possible adverse effects to “health, transport and infrastructure.”
Tuesday’s amber alert follows a level 3 heat health warning by the UK Health Security Agency, and is the longest issued by the Met Office since the warning system was introduced last year.
It applies to southern and central England and parts of Wales from Thursday midnight until Sunday.
Amid growing fears of a drought and the looming heat wave, Thames Water became the latest major provider to announce a hosepipe ban.
A temporary use ban on hosepipes in parts of London, Surrey, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Kent will be enforced “in the coming weeks,” the company said in a statement.
Partial hosepipe bans were introduced last week by water companies in southern England as the UK runs lows on water owing to below-average rainfall this year.
Under the emergency measure, people are not allowed to use hosepipes to water gardens or plants, clean cars, patios, walls and windows, or fill up pools and ponds, with hefty fines for violations.
July was the UK’s hottest month since records began in 1836 as temperatures surged above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), making it warmer than 98% of all countries in the world.
