A Scorcher Of 31C Today In The UK

In many regions of the UK, temperatures are expected to soar to 31 degrees Celsius today when thousands of festivalgoers go to Glastonbury.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued yellow heat health alerts across most of England, while NHS leaders have said the service is expecting ‘major disruption’.

Although it is expected to be extremely hot in certain areas of the nation today, a heatwave with intense heat is expected to pass quickly as cooler weather is expected to arrive on Thursday.

The UK saw the warmest weather of the year yesterday, with temperatures reportedly reaching 29.4C at Herstmonceux, near Eastbourne, in East Sussex.

That made it hotter than Torremolinos on  Spain’s Costa Blanca where temperatures reached 29C (84.92 F) or Kos in Greece with the same temperature.

Campers were pictured arriving at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset this morning in a bid to secure a prime camping spot. 

Global superstars including pop singer Dua Lipa, British rock band Coldplay, and American soul artist Sza will headline this year’s festival. Canadian country music icon Shania Twain will take the coveted legend spot.

Andrea Bishop, a Met Office spokesman, said it will continue to be ‘very warm’ across much of the country over the next few days, though conditions in the West and the South West will be ‘nearer average temperatures’ in the low 20s.

She added: ‘Wednesday is a very warm day for many and we’re going to have top temperatures of 31C.

‘We then transition to fresher conditions looking very likely through Thursday as a weakening band of cloud and showery rain runs east, south-east, across the country through the day.

‘Although it could still be very warm ahead of this, for example in the east or southeast of England.’

The present heatwave, according to NHS administrators, is already taxing the system, and tomorrow’s junior doctors’ strike will make matters worse.

Junior physicians from the British Medical Association (BMA) in England are planning their eleventh strike as a severe wage conflict continues.

NHS England’s national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said: ‘This new round of strike action will again hit the NHS very hard, with almost all routine care likely to be affected, and services put under significant pressure.

‘While the warmer weather can lead to additional pressure on services at a time when demand for services is already high.

‘As ever, we are working to ensure urgent and emergency care is prioritised for patients, but there is no doubt that it becomes harder each time to bring routine services back on track following strikes, and the cumulative effect for patients, staff and the NHS as a whole is enormous.

‘People should continue to use 999 in life-threatening emergencies and NHS 111 – on the NHS app, online, or by phone – for other health concerns.

‘GP services and pharmacies are also available for patients and can be accessed in the normal way, and patients who haven’t been contacted or informed that their planned appointment has been postponed are also urged to attend as normal.’

Asked about the impact of the weather, BMA chairman of the council, Professor Philip Banfield, said: ‘In any heatwave warning, if you end up going to emergency departments because of heat, you will be treated as you would on any normal day, you don’t suddenly end up bringing in lots of doctors.

Every time it gets a little hot, be careful, the NHS can’t cope. Every time it’s cold, the NHS can’t cope. It’s summer and yes it will be hot on some days and the NHS can’t cope with anything. Just remember to put on your sun cream, don’t sit out in the sun too long and folks have a lovely day.

There is no longer an NHS. Now it ought to be known as the International Health Service, albeit naturally only Britons foot the bill.

It’s been years and years that we were ‘all in it together’, unless, of course, you’re a multi-millionaire old Etonian who has trashed our world-beating NHS, and our NHS now doesn’t need any excuse for poor service.

This is what we Brits call summer, and seems to have finally arrived. It’s just summer, enough with the hysteria.