Met Office now issues new UK extreme heat warning

The Met Office has issued new extreme heat weather warnings for the first time for parts of the UK.

The temperatures are expected to peak on Thursday. The office warns of the potential impact of the heat on people's health, as the UK experiences a prolonged period of sweltering conditions.

Steven Ramsdale, from the Met Office, was quoted by BBC saying, "The high temperatures are going to continue through a large part of this week. Many areas will continue to reach heatwave thresholds but the amber extreme heat warning focuses on western areas where the most unusually high temperatures are likely to persist". 

Meanwhile, in a new revelation, climate scientists have said that no place is safe from the kind of extreme heat events that have hit the western US and Canada in recent days. 

Also read | No place is safe, reveal scientists amid unprecedented heatwave in parts of US and Canada

Being deemed as a 'heat dome', it has caused temperatures to rise to almost 50C in Canada and has been linked to hundreds of deaths, melted power lines, buckled roads and wildfires. 

At least 300 sudden deaths have been reported in Canada, as the country recorded its highest ever temperature amid scorching conditions that extended to the US Pacific Northwest.

Sir David King, the former UK chief scientific adviser, was quoted by the Guardian saying, "Nowhere is safe … who would have predicted a temperature of 48/49C in British Columbia?

He added, "The risks have been understood and known for so long and we have not acted, now we have a very narrow timeline for us to manage the problem".