The impacts of climate breakdown are worse and coming sooner than expected, the government’s former chief scientific advisor has said, as a four-day warning for extreme heat came into force across southern England and eastern Wales.
With temperatures expected to soar as high as 36C this weekend during the UK’s second heatwave in as many months, Sir David King warned that Britain has “got to anticipate this kind of weather going into the future, and if anything getting worse”.
Although this heatwave will feel “less intense” than July’s, it could prove more fatal as it will be more prolonged, said Professor Hannah Cloke of the University of Reading.
As rivers dry up and the spectre of drought looms, the Met Office is warning that fires could pose an “exceptional” risk this weekend.
The chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), Mark Hardingham, told The Telegraph that he “can’t remember a summer like this” in his 32-year career, adding: “The ground couldn’t get any drier than it already is.”
