UK heatwave live: Met Office issues extreme heat warning as government convenes emergency Cobra meeting

People have been urged to avoid Dunwich Heath in Suffolk as authorities assess wildfire damage and deal with an unexploded second world war bomb uncovered by the blaze.

The wildfire at the nature reserve has scorched more than ۱۰۰ hectares (۲۴۷ acres) of heathland since it took hold almost two weeks ago, the National Trust said. Suffolk’s ۳۵ fire stations, alongside ۱۸ other fire services from across the country, took part in the firefighting operation.

The conservation charity said coastal winds are stirring up ash and debris, rabbit burrows and warrens have retained significant heat and trees with burnt root systems are vulnerable to collapse. Parts of the landscape have been left unrecognisable, making it harder to navigate, and fires spread along cliffs putting their stability at risk and making the beach below unsafe.

The National Trust said it could take several weeks to fully assess the site, with some areas of the fire ground still inaccessible. The fire has exposed unexploded ordnance dating back to the second world war, with specialists warning there could be more still to find.

Russell Clement, general manager for the National Trust, said:

Right now… the best way people can help is by staying away from the reserve.

We know how important Dunwich Heath is to the local community and visitors alike, but we need to ensure it is safe before anyone returns.”

He continued:

With no rain forecast and continued hot weather, there remains the risk of further flare-ups in the days and weeks ahead, which will require the fire service back on site.

In the meantime, Dunwich village remains open and we’d encourage people to support the local businesses, which are such an important part of the community.”

My colleagues Patrick Barkham and Pippa Neill have more on the impact of the Dunwich Heath fire, which destroyed vital habitat for rare wildlife and badly affected the local community and tourism. You can read their report here:

UK heatwaves may have cost economy £۴.۴bn in lost output so far this year, analysis finds

Heather Stewart

Repeated debilitating heatwaves this summer are likely to have cost the UK economy more than £۴bn in lost economic output by the end of July, new analysis shows.

Green thinktank Verdant had suggested June’s unseasonally hot weather had an economic cost of £۲.۳۶bn. Updating its assessment to include last month’s high temperatures, it finds a £۴.۴bn hit to output.

As temperatures soar once again this week, Verdant’s director, James Meadway, said: “The economic costs of climate change are already with us, and set to worsen in future years. Action by the government to protect workers and businesses from the severe effects of extreme heat is well overdue.”

Direct economic costs arise because workers across many industries become less productive in heatwaves, while infrastructure and equipment overheats and has to be shut down.

Verdant is calling for the government to implement a maximum working temperature; and be ready to step in to compensate workers when they are forced to cut their hours because of extreme heat.

Read more:

The Guardian’s environment editor Damian Carrington has put together this explainer on why Europe is warming about twice as fast as the global average, with shifting weather patterns, Arctic warming, declining snow cover and reduced air pollution all contributing alongside greenhouse gas emissions:

We have some comments from the Liberal Democrats and Green party on the Cobra emergency meeting scheduled for later today.

While welcoming the government’s announcement, the Lib Dem environment spokesperson Pippa Heylings said emergency meetings were not enough to put out fires or protect our communities, saying “we urgently need a national strategy to make the UK climate-ready”.

She added: “Extreme weather warnings, widespread water shortages and wildfires raging across our countryside are a stark reminder that the climate crisis is gripping the country, yet the government is moving at a snail’s pace, waiting until the fifth heatwave this summer to act.”

Similarly, Green party leader Zack Polanski said the Cobra meeting was “only a first step”, adding: “This is a climate emergency which is leading to hundreds of deaths and stretching our firefighters, health staff and farmers to the limit. What we urgently need is concrete action.

“That must include taxing fossil fuel giants to pay for firefighting helicopters, a cool space in every community, and a maximum working temperature.

“The prime minister must also commit to no new oil and gas extraction in the North Sea. We cannot negotiate with the science.”

Parts of the UK will face the fifth heatwave of the summer this week with temperatures forecast to reach highs of ۳۸C, prompting the Met Office to issue an amber weather warning for extreme heat.

The record-shattering heatwave has caused wildfires and drought in many parts of the country, with this summer on course to be the UK’s hottest since records began, according to the Met Office. The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) said firefighters have responded to ۹۶۶ wildfires across England and Wales this year, including ۱۸۵ in the first ۱۰ days of August alone. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) general secretary, Steve Wright, told Times Radio the country faces a national emergency “right now”, with wildfires seen “all across” the UK.

Nearly three-quarters of England and the whole of Wales are in drought, creating tinderbox conditions that have fuelled the rapid spread of wildfires. Southern Water has applied for a rare drought order that would restrict businesses in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight from using water for non-essential activities, including cleaning cars and filling swimming pools, citing exceptionally low rainfall and concerns over supplies. If approved, it would be the first such ban since May ۲۰۰۶, with the decision resting with the environment secretary, Angela Eagle.

The extreme heat has prompted the government to convene an emergency Cobra meeting – the second this year in response to a heatwave. You can read more on that here:

“We know how challenging this summer is proving, particularly for firefighters tackling wildfires, farmers working in drought conditions, and NHS staff in busy A&E units,” a Downing Street spokesperson said ahead of the meeting this afternoon, which will be chaired by the prime minister, Andy Burnham.

“We will continue to take the action needed to keep communities safe, protect water supplies, support farming communities and safeguard the environment.”

Temperatures could reach ۳۳C today and up to ۳۸C tomorrow, the Met Office said, as it issued an amber heat warning for large parts of England, covering areas including London, St Albans, Cambridge, Oxford, Milton Keynes, Peterborough, Leicester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Lincoln and Sheffield. It will be in place from ۹am tomorrow to midnight.

The Met Office warned that the ‘“extreme heat” warning will likely cause “adverse” health effects to people vulnerable to extreme heat, adding that there could be delays to travel and that some “heat sensitive systems and equipment may fail”, leading to potential power cuts at some homes and businesses.

“While the peak heat will be more short-lived than recent heatwaves, temperatures widely into the mid-۳۰s Celsius on Thursday brings the potential for impacts for some, which is why a Met Office warning has been issued,” said chief forecaster Chris Bulmer.

Earlier, the Met Office said another record-breaking summer was increasingly likely, after the UK recorded its second-warmest June and July on record, with temperatures reaching ۳۸C in June and ۳۵C in July. It said the repeated heatwaves were a stark reminder of the changes taking place in the UK’s climate.

As my colleague Damian Carrington wrote yesterday, the climate crisis, caused by the pollution from fossil fuel burning, makes every heatwave more likely and intense. The heatwave at the end of June was the most severe ever recorded in Europe and would not have been possible without human-caused global heating.