UK issues new amber heat warning for England and Wales

Another heatwave looms in the United Kingdom as Britain's weather service, the Met Office, has issued an amber warning on Tuesday (August 9). The amber "Extreme Heat" warning is issued for parts of England and Wales as temperatures continue to rise.

The announcement comes on the same day when a report revealed that last month saw the lowest extent of Antarctic sea ice on record for July.

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According to the European Union's satellite monitoring group, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) found Antarctic sea ice extent reached 15.3 million square kilometres, some 1.1 million km2, or seven per cent, below the 1991-2020 average for July.

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What is the amber warning?

As we know that Britain's first-ever red "Extreme Heat" warning was issued in July. Notably, the amber warning is second-most severe after red. When it comes to the UK, the alert has been issued for extreme heat covering four days from Thursday to Sunday.

The UK Met Office said that the warning means that people who are vulnerable to extreme heat could face adverse health effects.

There are chances that there will be delays to travel. The Met Office also warned that there is an increased risk of water accidents and fires as more people visit coasts and beauty spots.

The report has mentioned that the temperatures are expected to peak at 35 Celsius on Friday and may hit 36C in some places on Saturday.

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July was quite a challenge for the UK as it was the driest July for England since 1935. During the month, the temperatures rose above 40C for the first time.

Such changes are clear indications of climate change that leads to making extreme heat and eventually causes catastrophic situations like drought, etc.

And scientists have also said that the July heatwave was made at least 10 times more likely because of climate change.

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As quoted by the Guardian, the Met Office's deputy chief meteorologist, Dan Rudman, said: "Thanks to persistent high pressure over the UK, temperatures will be rising day-on-day through this week and an extreme heat warning has been issued."

Rudman added, "Temperatures are expected to peak at 35C on Friday and Saturday, or even an isolated 36C on Saturday. Elsewhere will see temperatures widely into the high 20s and low 30s Celsius. Coupled with the high daytime temperatures there will be some warm nights, with temperatures expected not to drop below the low 20s Celsius for some areas in the south."

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