UK issues first-ever red warning for extreme heat
Spectators fan themselves to cool down from the heat of the sun as they watch the play during the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 Group A football match between Austria and Northern Ireland at St Mary's Stadium in Southampton, southern England on July 11, 2022.
The Met Office of the United Kingdom (UK), the country's national weather service, on Friday issued a red warning for extreme heat, the highest-level alert, that covers parts of England next Monday and Tuesday.
The alert, issued for the first time ever, is an upgrade from an amber warning that has been put in place until the end of Tuesday.
"Exceptional, perhaps record-breaking, temperatures are likely on Monday, then again on Tuesday," it said.
The highest temperature recorded in the UK so far was 38.7 degrees Celsius at Cambridge Botanic Garden in July 2019.
The Met office said it expects "population-wide adverse health effects, not limited to those most vulnerable to extreme heat, leading to serious illness or danger to life."
