UK Cabinet Office minister Kit Malthouse has warned of considerable disruption to transport services due to a record-breaking heatwave, which is expected in the country over the next few days.
Speaking after an emergency COBRA committee meeting on Saturday, Malthouse cautioned that “services are going to be significantly affected” and that “the heat will affect rails, for example, so the trains have to run slower.”
“There may be fewer services. People need to be on their guard for disruption. If they don’t have to travel, this may be a moment to work from home,” he added.
The minister urged ordinary Britons “to take precautions themselves - stay in the shade, drink lots of water, stay hydrated,” referring to older people and babies, who he said were “particularly vulnerable groups, who will need us all to look out for them.”
“[...] In particular, they [people] should look out for those two groups and do the neighborly thing… knock on an elderly neighbor's door, make sure they are okay, that they've got access to water. If you've got a tiny baby, make sure it's kept cool, possibly in a colder bath or chilled in some way,” Malthouse stressed.
He spoke after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) increased its heat health warning to level 4, which constitutes a “national emergency” applicable to an area from London to Manchester and up to the Vale of York.
Speaking to the BBC on Saturday, the UKSHA’s top scientist, Professor Isabel Oliver, warned that everyone could be affected by potential record-breaking temperatures.
“Last year we didn’t reach temperatures anywhere near the ones that are predicted for next week, [and] we saw over 1,600 excess deaths associated with the period of heatwave. So this is why we are keen that everybody knows what they can do to stay safe,” she pointed out.
Oliver was echoed by UK Met Office spokesperson Grahame Madge, who called on those with vulnerable relatives or neighbors to start putting heat management measures in place. According to him, “if the forecast is as we [Met Office] think it will be, in the red warning area, then people’s lives are at risk.”
Professor Peter Stott, Met Office science fellow in climate attribution, for his part underscored that the “scorching future our climate models have been predicting for years is now with us.”
The remarks followed forecasters suggesting on Friday that temperatures are expected to peak on Monday and Tuesday in parts of central, northern, eastern and southeastern England, with an 80% chance of the mercury topping the UK’s record temperature of 38.7C (101.7F) set in Cambridge in 2019, and a 50% chance of temperatures reaching 40C somewhere in the UK.
Officials have meanwhile said that some schools in the south of England will close early next week and some hospital appointments as well as school sports days will be postponed or cancelled due to potentially unprecedented weather conditions.
The UK Department for Education is not currently advising schools to shut, stressing, however, that school leaders should “make sure they take any steps necessary to make sure children are safe and comfortable.”
In another development, Transport for London (TfL) has already advised passengers to travel only for essential journeys, with the firm’s chief operating officer Andy Lord saying, “If customers do need to travel, they should check before they travel, as we are expecting there to be some impact to tube and rail services as a result of temporary speed restrictions we will need to introduce to keep everyone safe.”
Forecasts of record-breaking temperatures in southern England come as the heatwave’s negative impact is being felt across mainland Europe, with thousands of firefighters combatting wildfires in Portugal, Spain and south-western France.