“UK’s first red extreme heat warning” but wait…

Good grief, this is all starting to become a bit ridiculous, isn’t it?

It’s the middle of July here in the UK and so it is the height of summer. Weather forecasters and the media have been taking great delight in announcing every spell of hot weather as being a “heatwave”, and it’s amazing how so many people have fallen under the spell, and have forgotten that it actually does get ‘very warm’ at this time of year, and has been doing so for many years.

Just over four years ago, I wrote a brief piece here about the glorious weather we were experiencing at the time:

Thankfully I don’t have a very short memory, and I can remember some summers through my lifetime when we did see temperatures climb into the mid-30s.

In recent days, there has been an extended ‘heatwave’ spreading across much of Europe, and this is forecast to hit the UK over the weekend, culminating in some very high temperatures on Monday and Tuesday next week.

Anyway, lets cut to the chase and get to the point of this article. What did the BBC News announce today?

Heatwave: National emergency declared after UK’s first red extreme heat warning

A national emergency has been declared after a red extreme heat warning was issued for the first time, as temperatures could hit 40C (104F).

The Met Office’s highest warning covers an area including London, Manchester and York on Monday and Tuesday.

It means there is a risk to life and daily routines will need to change.

Speed restrictions are likely on railway lines, some schools will close early and some hospital appointments will be cancelled.

On the roads, gritters are planning to spread sand to reduce melting, and the RAC has warned more drivers will need help as cars overheat.

Meanwhile in sport, five horse race meetings have been cancelled on Monday and Tuesday because of the forecast temperatures.

On top of the Met Office warning, the UK Health Security Agency issued its highest level four heat alert to health and care bodies – warning illness and death could occur “among the fit and healthy”.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62177458

First keyword to highlight is the word “could”.

Now lets face it, weather forecasters are not always known for their accuracy, and they don’t always get their forecasts spot-on. It’s quite possible that some parts of the UK could see temperatures rise to the mid-30s (as they have done in the past), but then again despite it’s comparatively small size, its remarkable how much the weather can vary across the British Isles.

For example, Lerwick in the Shetland Islands has a forecast ‘high’ of just 13C for Monday, chilly for this time of year?

Anyway, going back to the BBC article above, and the ‘declaration of national emergency’ because of this ‘red alert’, its worth highlighting the following:

It is the first time a red heat warning has been issued for parts of the UK, although the extreme heat warning system was only introduced in 2021.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62177458

See what they did there? Oh, its the ‘first time’ the UK has ever had a ‘red heat warning’. But this system was only introduced last year.

So the media can trumpet this hot weather as being ‘something new’ that has never happened before. And I suppose we can look forward to these ‘red heat warnings’ being issued every year at around this time of year.

And has anyone noticed how they’ve made weather maps ‘scary’ by changing the colour scale?

The highest recorded temperature in the UK was 38.7C in Cambridge in 2019 and BBC Weather presenter Matt Taylor said there is now a realistic possibility of hitting 40C in the UK.

Well there you go, it’s been ‘very hot’ before, in one particular part of the country, three years ago.

But why oh why do the media want everyone to focus on this as being ‘something new’?

Oh that’s right, it’s “climate alarmism”.

The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the latter half of the 18th century, and experts predict that temperatures will keep rising unless governments make steep cuts to emissions.

Seven of the top 10 hottest days in the UK have been since 2003, Mr Taylor said.

Well that just means that there were three ‘hotter’ days before 2003. And exactly how far back do records go?

All these warnings about ‘danger of death’ and roads melting and rail tracks buckling, it makes you wonder how countries where these kinds of temperature highs are normal are able to cope?

Every year, millions of Brits fly on holiday to countries such as Spain, Mexico, Greece and Turkey, where it does regularly get “that hot”.

With the disruption to flights and the aggravation being caused, maybe we should be grateful that the ‘holiday weather’ is coming to us instead?

Enjoy it, be sensible, and it will soon be over, and we can all start complaining about how cold, wet and miserable the British weather is.