Tourism chiefs last night blasted ‘nannying’ warnings to stay out of the sun in the heatwave.
The Met Office yesterday issued an amber health alert as it forecast that temperatures could hit 35C (95F).
Together with health bosses, it urged the public either to avoid the sun altogether, or at least stay indoors between 11am and 3pm when the heat is strongest.
Esther and Daisy the dog enjoyed paddle boarding across calm seas at Lyme Regis in Dorset yesterday while the sun baked Britain – despite warnings from the Met Office to stay inside
A bead of sweat fell from a member of The Welsh Guards as he took part in the Changing the Guard ceremony at Wellington Barracks in London yesterday
Commuters melted on a packed, sweaty Central Line tube train in London yesterday evening on the hottest day of the year
Passengers were seen fanning themselves on the crammed carriages as they made their way home from work in 91F heat
The land surrounding Windsor Castle is parched but it seems the Queen’s gardeners have managed to find enough water to keep her lawns looking lovely and lush
But UK hospitality industry leaders and MPs called the advice ‘nonsense’ – and urged families to enjoy the weather while it lasts. They hope the heatwave will encourage ‘staycations’ and provide a huge boost to Britain’s tourism industry.
Malcolm Bell, chief executive of Visit Cornwall, said: ‘It’s nanny state with the biggest capital N you could possibly print.’
The row over the warnings came as:
– Britain sweltered in the hottest day of the year so far, with a temperature of 33.3C (91.9F) recorded at Santon Downham in Suffolk;
Parched Britain: Cyclists were pictured in Greenwich Park, London, where the grass has been scorched by the heatwave
A group of men play football on the dry brown grass in to Greenwich Park, London, which is usually filled with swathes of greenery
Amber warning: Britons are being advised to stay out of the sunshine washing over from Spain which has been dubbed the ‘Mediterranean melt’
– The Met Office said the first half of this summer has been the driest since 1961;
Tourists risk their lives for the perfect selfie
Holidaymakers have again been spotted risking their lives to take photographs on the top of fragile sea cliffs made famous by the television show Broadchurch.
A group of tourists were spotted standing dangerously close to the 120 foot drop on the cliffs at West Bay, Dorset.
A group of tourists were spotted standing dangerously close to the 120 foot drop
People were spotted risking their lives as the country remains gripped by the longest heatwave since 1976.
Temperatures in Dorset hit 28C today, and risky holidaymakers were seen ignoring numerous warning signs urging people to steer clear.
Images of people getting perilously close to cliff edges or laying under sandstone cliffs prone close to rock falls have begun to emerge.
A little boy is pictured climbing the cliff
– The Environment Agency revealed it has responded to 44 ‘significant’ environmental incidents since the end of June, including moorland fires, algal blooms, dry boreholes, low river flows and fish rescues;
– Farmers warned crops in the ground are parched and animals are having to be given winter feed;
– The heatwave forced a 55-mile section of the Leeds and Liverpool canal to close unless there is a significant downpour;
– A road near Godalming, Surrey, melted in the heat;
– The RSPCA recommended that owners walk their dogs in the morning or evening to avoid burning their paws on the pavement or suffering heatstroke.
With school holidays under way, families are already rushing to the seaside and Britain’s tourist attractions appear set fair to enjoy a rare staycation boom.
But the hot weather sparked a level three heat warning, issued when temperatures are predicted to hit 30C (86F) during the day and 15C (59F) at night, for at least two consecutive days. This is only one step down from a level four ‘national emergency’.
The alert was issued yesterday for a large area of England, covering the South-East, South and Midlands until Friday. The Met Office and Public Health England, who jointly run the heatwave warning system, urged people to stay out of the strongest four hours of sunshine, walk in the shade if they can, apply sunscreen and wear a hat in the sun, and drink fluids.
Officials stress the warnings are aimed primarily at the elderly and young children, who are more vulnerable in hot conditions – but the advice ‘can apply to everyone’.
With temperatures expected to peak at 34C (93F) or possibly 35C (95F) at the end of the week, the public are advised on the Met Office website to ‘keep your home as cool as possible’.
The Trades Union Congress also urged employers to help staff by ‘having windows that can be opened, fans, installing ventilation and supplying cold drinks’. Mr Bell strongly criticised the health warning. He said: ‘It may be roasting in the big cities but down in the West Country there’s a lovely sea breeze on the coast which lasts for about five or six miles inland. So while the Met Office might say it’s going to be 30C (86F), it actually feels more like 24C (75F), which is a beautiful temperature for us Brits.’
Steve Jordan, of the Eastbourne Hospitality Association in East Sussex, said: ‘We’ve had long hot summers in the past and I don’t remember warnings telling us not to go out in the sunshine.’
Tim Loughton, Tory MP for East Worthing and Shoreham in West Sussex, said: ‘Mad dogs and Englishmen and women are perfectly capable of going out in the noon-day sun with appropriately high factor suncream, copious amounts of water and a generously broad brimmed hat, all of which are available along the prom in Worthing.’ Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg added: ‘In Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Noel Coward said, “Though the English are effete, they’re quite impervious to heat”. I prefer his more robust attitude.’
There is no end in sight to the heatwave. Some areas have had 55 consecutive dry days. The Met office classifies a ‘dry day’ as one which experiences less than 1mm of rain.
Dr Thomas Waite, of Public Health England, said the high temperature ‘may leave older people, young children and those with long-term conditions, including heart and lung diseases, struggling to adapt’. The Met Office said it supplies the temperature data but the advice comes from Public Health England.
A woman is fighting for her life after plunging from a pier while looking at the rare ‘sea sparkle’ phenomenon which turns the water luminous blue. Kirsty Williams-Henry, 27, suffered multiple injuries when she slipped and fell 20ft on to rocks at Port Talbot, South Wales.
The heatwave is also having a serious impact on livestock and arable farmers.
Crops in the ground are ‘parched to the bone’ and sheep and cows are being given feed intended for winter as the grass has stopped growing, a National Farmers’ Union leader warned.
Vegetable farmers have also been badly hit by the dry conditions and carrots may even need to be imported from abroad for Christmas dinner, it was claimed.
Experienced carrot farmer Rodger Hobson says that the harsh spring and hot summer in the UK is causing a huge carrot shortage
Giles Smith, the NFU’s deputy president, said: ‘Spring crops that farmers sowed in April barely know what rain is.’
Mr Smith said vegetable farmers also face problems as their reservoirs – used for irrigation – begin to run dry, adding: ‘If this weather continues… we will see impacts on vegetable production. The signs are ominous.’
Rodger Hobson, of the British Carrot Growers Association, said the weather conditions means he is expecting to harvest 30 per cent fewer carrots than last year.
Some fin tells me we’ve got a visitor…
Snorkelling about on the surface of the sea, a group of divers enjoy getting up close and personal with a fearsome blue shark – one of a group 20 they spotted off the Cornish coast.
Nicknamed the ‘wolves of the sea’, blue sharks are among the fastest in the world.
Although they’re not too keen on eating humans, they have been responsible for 13 attacks, four of them fatal.
Blue sharks, nicknamed the ‘wolves of the sea’, are found in warmer waters such as the Med, but global warming is driving larger numbers to our shores
They are more likely to be found in warmer waters such as the Med, but global warming is driving larger numbers to our shores.
Charles Hood, who runs shark watching excursions with Blue Sharks Cornwall and took this photo, said the number of sightings off Cornwall has more than doubled in the last two years.
He said: ‘The blues can appear within minutes or up to a couple hours but will often stay for a few hours at a time.’
The Brown Estate! Windsor Castle and surrounds show the effects of Britain’s record-breaking summer with barely a blade of green grass to be seen
Shocking aerial shots of Windsor Castle and surrounds reveal the impact of Britain’s record-breaking summer on the land.
Patches of scorched grass could be seen right across the countryside in images taken today after a Mediterranean heatblast torched the country.
The castle’s normally green and vibrant grounds have been reduced to shades of yellow and brown under the excruciating heat.
Parched: The sun beat down on Windsor Castle yesterday afternoon where the land is normally filled with swathes of greenery
The castle’s surrounds were full of life in 2016 before being burnt by the sizzling sunshine and turned to shades of brown and yellow this summer
People walk the Long Walk by the parched grass in Windsor Great Park, which was full of life (and thousands of fans) when Harry and Meghan took off on their carriage procession after their wedding
Britain is now bracing for the highest temperatures for more than a decade to come this week, as well as the driest summer for 225 years.
It was the hottest day of the year today as temperatures hit 91F (33.3C) in Santon Downham, Suffolk, and it’s likely that number could soar to 101F (38C) by Thursday, making Britain hotter than Jamaica.
Official Met Office advice is to stay indoors with closed and covered windows avoiding the most intense sunshine.