Heatwave: Record temperatures will be ‘new normal’ in future, climate experts warn as UK experiences second hottest day ever
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Experts have warned Britain will suffer record temperatures like this week’s more often in future – with 40C becoming the “new normal” as global carbon emissions are still rising. “The sort of heatwaves we are experiencing today could become more frequent in future as the climate warms.” Jaise Kuriakose, a lecturer at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in Manchester, said the UK climate in future years would become more like that of Spain or southern France, with 38C or 40C a new summer normal for the south of England. East Midlands Trains tweeted: “Please, DO NOT TRAVEL today.” Dr Pete Inness, associate professor in meteorology at the University of Reading, said: “Given that the heatwave we experienced in Europe in 2003 is to become pretty much the norm by the middle of this century unless some pretty drastic actions are taken very soon, I’d say a temperature of 40C may well be recorded somewhere in the UK by 2050 and possibly up to a decade earlier – that’s a personal assessment.” Medical experts warned few lessons had been learnt from last year. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Michael Byrne, from Oxford University, said the heat posed serious health risks and questions about how the UK is preparing for “increasingly frequent and severe heatwaves”.