Hundreds of residents gathered on Bournemouth’s shoreline to escape the sweltering heat as a persistent heatwave dominates central and southern England.
Met Office deputy chief forecaster warned that temperatures across central and southern England and Wales are expected to remain above 30 °C for several consecutive days, with lows to mids‑30s forecast through the weekend.
While the core of the heat will gradually shift westward, eastern coastal areas may experience slightly cooler and cloudier conditions, accompanied by stronger winds that could bring breezier weather along coasts and headlands.
Northern Scotland is the main exception, where a cold front will bring rain, cloud and heavy downpours on Friday before improving over the weekend.
Forecasters anticipate a possible increase in thunderstorms from Monday in parts of the south, though most regions will stay dry, sunny and very warm into the coming week.
Temperatures peaked at 35.2 °C in Coton in the Elms, Derbyshire, on Friday, setting a new record. This follows previous 35 °C highs recorded in 1976 and 2020, each with five days above that mark.
This year marks the first time three calendar months have recorded temperatures of 35 °C or higher, and it has broken the record for the most days of 34 °C or higher, with nine such days so far.
Water utilities have imposed hose‑pipe bans across the east of England, Cambridge, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and parts of Kent as water supplies come under strain.
The bans affect roughly one million customers of Southern Water in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and over five million Anglian Water customers in the east of England, with restrictions taking effect from early Saturday.
Cambridge Water introduced a temporary ban for its 350,000 customers, effective immediately, while South East Water began restrictions on July 3 for several areas of Kent.
These measures reflect mounting pressure on the UK’s water infrastructure, which has seen limited investment, no new reservoirs in three decades, and widespread pipe leaks, compounded by population growth and increasingly extreme weather linked to climate change.
