
Met Office reveals when the heatwave will end
The Met Office issued a yellow thunderstorm warning for most of Scotland and Northern Ireland until 10pm on Thursday, with potential for heavy showers elsewhere later in the week.
The current heatwave, the fourth of the summer, is expected to persist throughout the week with cooler but still warm conditions on Thursday, and a return to very hot weather in the south and South East by Friday.
The UK Health Security Agency has advised the public to take precautions due to the health risks associated with high temperatures, particularly for vulnerable individuals.
England is facing "nationally significant" water shortfalls, with five areas officially in drought, impacting the environment and agriculture.
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Wales Online
35 minutes ago
- Wales Online
'Severe and frequent' wildfires threat sparked by multiple UK heatwaves
'Severe and frequent' wildfires threat sparked by multiple UK heatwaves Firefighters union raise alarm after Welsh staff diverted to tackle huge blaze in Dorset more than 100 miles away Wildfires in Spain and Portugal will be effecting the sky in the UK (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images) As Wales heats up during the fourth heatwave of this year so far, the Met Office have warned that it may not be blue skies for some as fire services deal with scorching wildfires. Wales is set to reach temperatures of up to 29C this weekend - August, 16 - in areas such as Cardiff and Monmouth, Cardigan, Chepstow, and Newport just behind. Wildfires grappling Spain and Portugal due to the rising temperature may be the reason for the lack of blue skies in your area as the smoke, plus Saharan dust, drifts across the UK, according to the Met Office. Wales has had an increase in temperature this week once again with Cardiff being the hottest city across the UK. The Met Office also advised people to be camera ready as we can "expect enhanced sunsets and sunrises in the coming days — deeper reds and oranges thanks to light scattering". Get daily breaking news updates on your phone by joining our WhatsApp community here . We occasionally treat members to special offers, promotions and ads from us and our partners. See our Privacy Notice Elsewhere, the South Wales Fire Service have helped tackle the major wildfire at Holt Heath, Dorset that is believed to have been deliberately started on August, 9 lasting six days. Article continues below South Wales firefighters joined crews from across the UK to aid fire crews in Dorset due to "a critical lack of resources", according to Fire Brigades Union. Ben Selby, Fire Brigades Union assistant general secretary said: "Fourteen years of austerity have led to incidents such as the wildfire at Holt Health becoming national emergencies. The loss of 1 in 5 firefighter posts to cuts, with fire engines taken off the run and fire stations closed up and down the country, means that there is no resilience left. "Wildfires are intensive incidents, requiring a large number of firefighters and specialist resources. They are becoming increasingly severe and frequent as a result of the climate emergency. Article continues below "The government must face this reality and ensure that the UK is equipped to face these increasing threats by providing the investment the fire and rescue service needs." As well as south Wales crews travelled from Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Leicestershire, Surrey, Lincolnshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Avon, Essex and Kent among others, to assist local emergency services.


Metro
3 hours ago
- Metro
Smoke from apocalyptic wildfires in Spain and Portugal causing overcast UK skies
Smoke from wildfires raging across Europe has blown thousands of miles causing thick clouds to blot out the sun over swathes of the UK. Spain has been battling 14 major fires driven by high winds that have already killed seven people and burned an area the size of London. Friday's bright summer weather, which made thousands flock to the beach in heatwave conditions, came to a dismal end on Saturday in the UK. The Met Office posted on X: 'Noticed the sky isn't as blue today? Smoke from wildfires in Spain & Portugal, plus Saharan dust, has drifted over the UK. 'Expect enhanced sunsets & sunrises in the coming days — deeper reds & oranges thanks to light scattering.' Smoke from wildfires can travel thousands of miles if it is caught in jetstream. Toxic fumes can remain in the atmosphere for months, depending the intensity of the fires and weather patterns, according to the BBC. Firefighters have been battling to put out blazes across southern Europe in one of the worst summers for wildfires in 20 years. A nearly two-week heatwave and southerly winds were worsening the situation in Spain. Spain's national weather agency AEMET warned of extreme fire risk in the north and west of the country, as temperatures are expected to reach up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on the north coast. Wildfires have burned more than 157,000 hectares in Spain so far this year, almost double the annual average, according to the European Union's Forest Fire Information Service. In Galicia, several fires converged to form a large blaze, forcing the closure of highways and rail services to the region. 'We are waiting for the fire to come down to try and stop it, so it does not get to the houses,' Loli Baz, 52, said from the village of Villanueva de la Sierra in Zamora. A second volunteer firefighter has died after battling a wildfire in the northern Spanish province of Leon. Local media identified the man as 37-year-old Jaime Aparicio, who suffered burns to 85% of his body after being trapped alongside another volunteer near the town of Nogarejas as they attempted to create firebreaks with brush cutters. His colleague Abel Ramos, 35, died on Tuesday. On Monday, a separate fire killed a man on the outskirts of Madrid. Police said they arrested a man in northern Zamora province for starting a fire on a plot of land used to dump rubbish illegally. The hot weather caused it to spread rapidly, burning 4,000 hectares (15.4 square miles) and leaving five people injured, they said. In neighbouring Portugal, meanwhile, thousands of firefighters were battling five large blazes in central and northern parts of the country, with one fire in Trancoso, some 350 km northeast of Lisbon, now raging for six days. More Trending Around 300 residents were evacuated on Friday from the village of Covanca near Piodao, an area of central Portugal popular with tourists, after a wildfire broke out on Wednesday. Portugal has activated the EU mechanism for assistance and requested four Canadair planes, according to civil protection commander Mario Silvestre. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa offered his 'heartfelt condolences' to Carlos Damaso, a former mayor of the town, who perished tackling a blaze in his district. MORE: We swerved a beach honeymoon for a European city break — we're itching to go back MORE: Terrified families jump into the sea to escape raging wildfires in Greece MORE: Venetians are up in arms after tourists expose 'secret' €2 gondola rides


Sky News
3 hours ago
- Sky News
Why wildfires in Spain and Portugal are having an impact on weather in the UK
Smoke from wildfires in Spain and Portugal has brought hazy conditions to the UK, breaking up last week's spell of very hot weather, forecasters have said. In a post on the X social media platform on Saturday, the Met Office said: "Smoke from wildfires in Spain and Portugal, plus Saharan dust, has drifted over the UK." The Met Office said the UK should expect "enhanced sunsets and sunrises in the coming days - deeper reds & oranges thanks to light scattering." The latest forecast where you are Sky weather producer Kirsty McCabe said "the very hot weather is easing, thanks to a strengthening easterly wind as well as cloudier skies". She said Saturday's haze is down to "the terrible wildfires that have been raging across Spain and Portugal, and the smoke has made its way to our shores, along with some Saharan dust". While the smoke particles shouldn't affect the UK's air quality, she said they will "enhance the orange and red colours of our sunsets and sunrises". Wildfire smoke affects the colour of the sky through processes known as Rayleigh scattering and Mie scattering, she explained. On reaching the Earth's atmosphere, the sun's light bumps into tiny molecules of nitrogen and oxygen, which scatter or deflect the light. Kirsty McCabe said Mie scattering occurs "when the [smoke] particles are much larger and closer to the wavelengths of light. "That means the smoke particles in the air scatter all colours of light more equally, leading to a hazy or milky appearance of the sun and sky." Rayleigh scattering sees the shorter wavelengths of light, blues and violets, scattered most strongly, while red light, having the longest wavelength, is scattered the least, she explained. "At dusk and dawn, the sun's rays travel through a greater distance of atmosphere to reach our eyes, so the blue light has been scattered even more. "With most of the shorter blue and violet wavelengths filtered out, along with some green and yellow, that leaves us with the warmer hues of the reds and oranges." Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said the haze "will hang around for the next few days". He predicted temperatures in the mid to high twenties, rising to 28C in some parts, with hazy sunshine moving from southwest England into Wales and Northern Ireland. At least seven people have died in wildfires in Spain as firefighters battled 14 major blazes on Friday, fanned by strong southerly winds and high temperatures from a nearly two-week heatwave. An area the size of London has been destroyed by wildfires so far this year, with western Spain especially badly affected. Southern Europe is having one of the worst summers for wildfires in 20 years, with France, Greece, Turkey and Albania among the countries affected. While Southern Europe lived through wildfires, droughts and heatwaves long before humans started to change the climate by burning fossil fuels, hotter global temperatures can supercharge some of the conditions for these types of extreme weather, according to climate scientists.