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To be considered a heatwave, temperatures must reach 28C (82.4F) in some parts of England.
As the climate warms, eight English counties are seeing an increase in the temperature threshold by the Met Office.
A heatwave can be defined as an extreme weather condition that occurs in relation to the current climate. Average temperatures are rising as the world heats up.
The three-day temperature threshold to declare a heatwave is 27C (80.6F), which jumps from Surrey, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire to 28C (28C) in six counties: Bedfordshireshire, Bedfordshireshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
For three days, the temperatures in Lincolnshire will have to reach 27C (78.8F) instead of 26C (78.8F). The East Riding of Yorkshire has a 26C threshold. This is an increase from 25C (77F).
According to the weather body, data has shown an “undeniable warming trend in the UK”.
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Parts of central England and eastern England saw the highest temperature rises of over 1C (1.8F). Further north, parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland saw the mercury rise by approximately 0.7C.
“Heatwaves can be extreme weather events, but research shows climate change is making them more likely,” said Dr Mark McCarthy of the Met Office National Climate Information Centre.
More frequent heatwaves
A Met Office study of the UK’s summer heatwave of 2018 revealed that it was 30x more likely to happen now than in 1750 due to the higher concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, a climate-heating greenhouse gases.
Dr McCarthy added that heatwaves with similar intensity will become more frequent as these concentrations increase.
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The weather body calculates heatwave thresholds using historical data. This was done previously for the period 1981-2010. These new limits were based on data between 1991 and 2020.
Professor Nigel Arnell, University of Reading, said that we must adapt to a “new norm”.
He said, “What we thought was an unusually hot summer is soon going to become common… and things are only going worse.”
He said that we will likely have to modify the definitions again in a few years. Otherwise, we’ll be experiencing a heatwave every year.
Heatwave thresholds are not the same as extreme heat warnings. They highlight extremely high temperatures to help protect property and lives.
The UK Health Security Agency heat health alert for England warns against the effects of prolonged heat on human health.
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