Stay out of the sun! Met Office gives health warning as UK heatwave could see temperatures reach 34C

Brits have been warned to stay out of the sun as much as possible this week as temperatures threaten to smash July records.

An amber ‘heat health watch warning’ has been issued by the Met Office for parts of England this week.

The forecaster urged people with underlying health conditions and the elderly to either stay out of the sun or avoid being in the sun when it is at its strongest between 11am and 3pm.

The amber, or level three, warning is issued when temperatures are predicted to hit 30 degrees during the day, and 15 degrees at night, for at least two consecutive days, a Met Office spokeswoman said.

She added to Yahoo News UK that there is a 90% possibility of heatwave conditions between 9am today and 9am Friday in parts of England, mainly in the south and east.

The heat health watch warning, in partnership with Public Health England (PHE), is designed to make local services aware that these conditions are being met, and for them to take action.

The spokeswoman said: ‘We advise the public to take care in the sun, especially when temperatures are potentially reaching 30 degrees or more throughout this week – either stay out of the sun or be sensible and don’t go out in the strongest sunshine hours (11am to 3pm).’

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Members of the public were also urged to take the usual precautions in the sun, including covering up, wearing sun screen and drinking plenty of water.

The warning comes as the heatwave in Britain continues – with the hottest day of the year predicted this week.

Temperatures could soar to more than 34C (93.2F) in some parts of the country on Wednesday, beating the 33C (91.4F) recorded at Porthmadog in North Wales on June 28.

Met Office forecaster Alex Burkill said: ‘It does look likely it will be at least 33C at some point this week, most likely on Wednesday or Thursday, in the south east and east, London, Essex, Kent, east Anglia and into Lincolnshire – and that would make it the hottest day we have had so far.’

Temperatures are likely to be lower elsewhere.

Forecasters said there is a chance of hitting 34C or 35C (95F), which could put Britons in line for the hottest day since the mercury hit 34.5C (94.1F) at Heathrow on June 21 last year.

The hottest July day on record is 36.7C (98F), which was reached at Heathrow on July 1 2015.

The hot weather will lead to thunderstorms and it ‘could all happen on the same day’, Mr Burkill added.

He said: ‘The heat and humidity means there is a lot of energy in the air and a high risk of intense thunderstorms. Whether or not it will happen is where the uncertainty is.’

Nearly all parts of the UK are seeing above average temperatures, but it will be hot or very hot towards the east or south east.

During the current heatwave, UK temperatures have been approximately 10C higher than average for this time of year.

Instead of 23C (73.4F) which could usually be expected in London in July, temperatures could tip 34C (93.2).

Scotland, which averages 17C (62.6), could enjoy highs of up to 25C (77F), while Wales could jump to 26C (78.8F) or 27C (80.6F) instead of 19.2C (66.5F).

Those in Northern Ireland may be basking in 24C (75.2F) rather than the July average of 18.5C (65.3F).

Mr Burkill also said the current run of fine weather looks set to continue.

He said: ‘It always seems that when the schools break up that is when we get the bad weather, but in this instance that is not the case.’