Forecasters have warned that hot, dry weather will continue later in the summer, potentially leading to tube bans and other restrictions on water use.
A ‘heat dome’ is expected to develop over the Mediterranean in August, which could once again bring very high temperatures to the UK.
The current heat wave is caused by air from the Sahara coming north towards southern Europe, where high temperatures have been ongoing since July 10. More than 1,000 deaths have been linked to the heat wave in Spain and Portugal.
Over the past three days this has spread north from southern Europe into Belgium, Germany and the UK.
Temperatures hit 47C, a new national high, in Portugal last week and are expected to rise again to 39C this weekend.
Europe and the UK could experience another heatwave
Forecasters said UK temperatures could rise again if the same southerly winds that brought the heat this week to Britain return.
Professor Hannah Cloke, a natural disaster researcher at the University of Reading, said: “We hope to see the end of this in a few days. [The temperature] at the very least it will drop, but there is a remaining risk of it rising again in about a week, given the long-term outlook.
“It is Europe and the United Kingdom. It’s quite worrying.”
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