Wednesday 10 August 2022 07:16 AM Mercury set to hit 93F today as Met Office issues amber extreme heat warning trends now

Tinderbox Britain is facing 'lethally hot' temperatures today with the mercury set to reach 93F today in southern parts of England - as millions more people face a hosepipe ban in the coming weeks.

Families enjoying their summer holidays will enjoy tropical temperatures from today as London is expected to reach 86F (30C) ahead of the Met Office's amber warning for parts of England and Wales, which comes into force from Thursday.

Britain has been told to brace for a sweltering heatwave this week as a Level 3 Heat Health Alert also came into effect yesterday and has been extended until 11pm on Sunday - with little rain expected to help relieve the threat of drought which has prompted hosepipe bans and fire warnings.

The UK Health Security Agency have advised people to look out for those who are older or with existing health conditions, as well as young children.

The Met Office said temperatures are likely to rise into the low to mid-30s in central and southern parts of the UK later by Thursday - but will not be as extreme as the record-breaking heat in July when the thermometer climbed above 40C.  

It comes as an Oxfordshire village has become the first in Britain to run dry, with residents forced to rely on deliveries of bottled and tanker water.

Northend, on the Buckinghamshire border, usually gets its water from the now dried-up Stokenchurch Reservoir.

Thames Water had to send water tankers and bottles to its residents, struggling after high demand on the natural resource in recent hot weeks.

The company has also recently announced it will be issuing a hosepipe ban for 15million customers across London, Surrey and Gloucestershire in the coming weeks.

Last night Andrew Sells, head of Natural England between 2014 and 2019, accused water companies of selling off reservoirs which could have helped ease drought to housing developers.

‘Several of our water companies preferred to build houses on some of their reservoirs, and last week we learned that together they have built precisely zero new reservoirs in the past 30 years’, he wrote in the Daily Telegraph.

‘No doubt some reservoirs had reached the end of their working lives, but in abandoning this infrastructure, without any replacements, they have again put short-term profits ahead of long-term supply.’

The companies which have sold off decommissioned reservoirs in recent years include Thames Water, Severn Trent and Southern Water.  

Meanwhile, nearly 50 firefighters have been battling a huge ‘tinderbox’ blaze to stop it spreading to the Queen’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

The royal estate, with the Queen’s residence at its centre, sits in 8,000 hectares (nearly 20,000 acres) of woods and heaths which, like much of the rest of Britain, have become parched in the heatwave.

The drama began when at least five fire engines and a water carrier were called shortly before 8am yesterday to the blaze in forest land just off the A149 near Sandringham.

It’s believed Sandringham has its own fire engine in case of a blaze on the royal estate.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service said crews were using hoses and water jets.

And drivers are being urged to check their tyres before beginning journeys on ‘searing Saturday’.

The AA warned the start of a weekend when millions of people will be making long trips to the seaside, football matches, music festivals and holidays will coincide with extreme heat.

Temperatures are expected to peak at 35C, increasing the risk of blowouts for tyres that are inflated to the wrong pressure or already damaged.

Motorists should also consider having their vehicle’s cooling system checked by a mechanic as overheated engines are a common cause of breakdowns in hot weather, the AA said.

Sunseekers are set for sizzling heat across England and Wales today as temperatures are expected to reach 82F (28C) along the Bournemouth coastline, while Dover, Kent is predicted to reach highs of 75F (24C). Meanwhile, Aberdeen, Scotland has been forecast a balmy 73F (23C) and Whitsand Bay in Cornwall will see highs of 70F (21C).

The Met Office also predicted the extreme heat will become more commonplace in the coming years as global warming continues.

Professor Hannah Cloke, Professor of Hydrology at the University of Reading, said: ‘The warnings for extreme heat from both the Met Office and the heat health alert issued by the UK Health Security Agency are another reminder that this summer in the UK is proving to be lethally hot.

‘Compared to the July record-breaking heat, this event will be less intense but last longer, which could actually have a greater impact on people’s health.

‘This heatwave might not break any records for maximum temperatures, but it might actually cause more deaths.’

The hot weather led to tragedy on Monday as a 14-year-old boy has died after getting into difficulty in a lake in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire.

Emergency services were called to the scene at North Met Lake, off Cadmore Lane, just after 5pm on Monday after reports that a teenager had not re-surfaced after being in the water.

They carried out searches of the area but a body was recovered just before 11pm.