Get ready to fry! UK summers are to hit 104F within the decade, forecasters warn
Get ready to fry! UK summers are to hit 104F within the decade as scorching weather becomes our new ‘normal’ by the end of the century, forecasters have warned
- Scientists fear the rate of global warming is spiralling out of control, saying that ‘climate change is happening and it’s happening now’
- Experts warn that temperature and rainfall records are being smashed in Britain
- Hottest temperature recorded in the UK stands at 38.7C in Cambridge in 2019
Scorching summers of 40C (104F) will become the UK’s new ‘normal’ by the end of the century, forecasters have warned.
The alarming prediction comes as experts warned that temperature and rainfall records are being smashed at a ‘shocking’ rate in Britain.
Scientists fear the rate of global warming is spiralling out of control, saying that ‘climate change is happening and it’s happening now’.
Scorching summers of 40C (104F) will become the UK’s new ‘normal’ by the end of the century, forecasters have warned. Pictured: Lyme Regis in Dorset on Tuesday
The hottest temperature recorded in the UK stands at 38.7C (101.6F) in Cambridge in 2019.
But the jump to 40C could come within the decade and become a regular occurrence every three to four years by the end of the century.
Data from the annual State Of The UK Climate report showed that last year was the third warmest, fifth wettest and eighth sunniest year on record – the first ever to fall into the top ten in all three categories.
Meanwhile, the average winter temperature last year was 5.3C (41.5F) – up 1.6C on the 1981 to 2010 average.
The increase will spark fears among health experts about the long-term impacts of the weather.
A heatwave last August – which recorded temperatures above 34C (93.2F) for six days – claimed 1,700 lives.
Professor Liz Bentley, chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, said that the temperature in the UK has already increased by 1.2C and is likely to rise a further 0.3C in the coming years.
She added: ‘These [heatwaves] are just going to become much more intense. We’re likely to see 40C in the UK although we have never seen those kinds of temperatures [before].
The jump to 40C could come within the decade and become a regular occurrence every three to four years by the end of the century
‘That’s not just going to become something that we see once or twice – it’ll start to become something that we see on a much more regular basis.’
Mike Kendon, climate scientist at the Met Office and lead author of the report, said the figures showed that the ‘baseline of our climate’ is changing and indicated a new normal for the UK.
He also warned of the impact of man-made global warming, saying its effects will last ‘for a very, very long time’.
