Birmingham weather: Here’s when the next heatwave could strike

There is a possibility of more hot weather in August after record-breaking highs in temperature this month.

The hottest temperature near Birmingham was recorded at 40.3C in Lincolnshire on Tuesday (July 19). Meanwhile, Birmingham recorded 39C the same day.

The MET office predicted cloudy skies in Birmingham today and a maximum temperature of 22C. “It should be dry for many areas, but there could be the odd shower where the cloud thickens, particularly over the hills,” they announced.

Currently, there is yellow weather warning in the UK for Friday when thunderstorms are expected in a few places in the South. However, this might not be the end of the hot weather.

Professor Hannah Cloke, a natural hazards researcher at the University of Reading, told the i newspaper that there is a “distinct possibility” of hot weather next month.

“The long-range forecast looks like a possibility that may happen. Whether it’s going to be these temperatures or not, it’s difficult to say. But we really should hould be expecting this type of weather to happen more often,” she said, adding that later in August could bring higher temperatures once again.

“It’s quite a long way off and I haven’t seen anything that looks like 40°C,” she cautioned, but added: “That doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Because we’re still a long way off from the end of August.”

The MET office, however, said they did not expect anything out of the ordinary for August weather. A spokesperson said: “Confidence is low for the beginning of August. The most likely scenario is for changeable conditions to develop, but still with a lot of dry weather at times.

“Temperatures perhaps slightly above average, especially in the southeast where it may be hot at times, but nothing exceptional for the time of year,” said the MET office.

The high temperatures this week impacted many essential services along with causing travel chaos.

Fires were recorded in the Lickey Hills Country Park earlier this week and an area larger than five football pitches has been damaged.

Fifteen people were evacuated from their homes on July 18 and firefighters got the flames under control by the next day.

What to expect next week?

On July 25, there will be outbreaks of rain across the north and west moving southeastwards across the UK.

“The rest of the week sees sunny spells and further showers, which are expected to be most frequent in the north and west at first. Light or moderate winds, but fresh or strong in the northwest. For the later part of the period, more settled conditions are likely to return for many, though a few showers are still possible. Temperatures likely above average, especially in the southeast where it may be very warm at times,” said the MET office on its website.

Dr. Mark McCarthy, head of the Met Office National Climate Information Centre, said: “A new UK national climate temperature record should be a rare occurrence, and we would normally expect a new record to only exceed the previous one by a fraction of a degree.

“However, we saw 39 stations across a large swathe of England exceed the previous highest daily temperature extreme, with the highest exceeding the previous record – set in Cambridge in July 2019 - by a remarkable 1.6°C.”

Is this the new normal?

Met Office Chief Scientist Professor Stephen Belcher said temperatures could exceed 40C as frequently as every three years by the end of the century in the UK in a very high emissions scenario.

“Reducing carbon emissions will help to reduce the frequency, but we will still continue to see some occurrences of temperatures exceeding 40°C and the UK will need to adapt to these extreme events,” he added.

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