There is a level 3 alert for southern and central England and a level 2 alert for the North. Level 4 is the most severe designation. The Met Office said temperatures are likely to rise into the low to mid-30s in central and southern parts of the UK – but they won’t be as extreme as July’s record-breaking heat when the thermometer rose above 40 degrees Celsius. Find out the five-day forecast where you live Outside the hottest areas, much of England and Wales and south-east Scotland could see temperatures widely in the 20s, with some spots likely to see temperatures in the low 30s, the Met Office said. Scotland and Northern Ireland will also see temperatures in the 20s and could reach official heatwave criteria by Friday, forecasters said. The Met Office recently raised the temperatures to be reached for an official heatwave for eight English counties to reflect warming conditions in the UK. With the latest heatwave coming after months of low rainfall, which has left the countryside and urban parks and gardens dry, households in some areas are being told not to light fires or barbecue. The Met Office Fire Severity Index (FSI), an estimate of how serious a fire could become if one were to start, is very high for most of England and Wales and will rise to “excellent” for one area of England until the weekend. Read more: Top tips for saving water during the heatwave What uses the most water in our homes, where does our water come from and what happens during a drought? Scientists claim that the likelihood of droughts is increasing due to climate change, caused by greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels and other human activities. Dr Leslie Mabon, lecturer in environmental systems at The Open University, said: “Above all, the drought risk we’re seeing in the UK is a reminder that we urgently need to tackle the problem at source: that means reducing fossil fuel emissions . to limit the extent of the harmful climate change we will face. The charts below show a measure of dryness called the Standardized Rainfall Index from the UK Center for Ecology & Hydrology for July and the previous 12 months. “Furthermore, countries such as the UK, which have traditionally had a more temperate climate and have less experience of managing the prolonged effects of hot, dry spells, need to plan now to adapt to warmer weather. “More than encouraging people to save water, this also means looking at water infrastructure and thinking about where investments are made to ensure we are better prepared to manage water in hot periods.” Professor Martin Siegert, co-director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London, said: “Climate warming is understandably on everyone’s mind when the UK is burning, water is scarce and crop yields are falling. “While such things are a consequence of greenhouse gas emissions, and because global temperatures will rise further, we must renew our efforts to reduce our emissions to ‘net zero’ as soon as possible.” Subscribe to the Daily Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Spreaker Meanwhile, Southern Water has imposed a mask ban on customers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Temporary restrictions on water use are also due to come into force for South East Water customers in Kent and Sussex from August 12, with similar rules announced by Welsh Water for Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire later this month. Others have warned they may have to follow suit, following the driest eight months from November to June since 1976 and the driest July on record for parts of southern and eastern England.
