Manchester on course for hottest day ever recorded as temperatures in UK provisionally top 40C in heatwave

Manchester could be on course for its hottest day ever recorded during the current heatwave which has prompted the Met Office to issue an extreme heat warning.

The organisation said temperatures on Tuesday afternoon (19 July) in the city could be as high as 38C.

This would be significantly hotter than the highest temperature recorded officially in the North West, which the Met Office gives as 34.6C in August 1990 at Nantwich in Cheshire.

The Met Office said the temperatures seen this week during the heatwave pose a risk to people’s health.

How hot is it in Manchester today?

The Met Office said it would be at its hottest in Manchester on Tuesday at around 2pm, when it would be 38C.

Its forecast then said it would be 36C at 3pm, 33C between 4pm and 6pm, 32C at 7pm, 31C at 8pm and 30C at 9pm. Only after that would the temperature begin to fall below 30C.

The 38C forecast for 2pm was the hottest temperature likely to happen in Manchester at any point on Tuesday, according to the Met Office.

However, the Whitworth Observatory at The University of Manchester said on social media on Tuesday morning that it was expecting the temperature to reach 39C around lunchtime.

As well as the North

How hot is it across the UK?

The Met Office said that on Tuesday (19 July) it was likely that the temperature had exceeded 40C for the first time.

A provisional measurement of 40.3C was recorded at Coningsby in Lincolnshire on Tuesday afternoon, following a reading of 40.2C at Heathrow at 12.50pm on Tuesday.

However, the Met Office said these figures would all be subject to a rigorous checking and validation process before they were officially confirmed.

On Monday (18 July) the hottest temperature recorded was 38.1C, just below the previous highest temperature of 38.7C recorded in the UK at Cambridge in 2019.

The Met Office did not rule out the mercury climbing even higher either, saying temperatures were set to rise during the afternoon.

A red extreme weather warning is in place across swathes of England, and there is an even larger amber warning for extreme heat in place as well.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) put a level four heat health warning - the highest-possible level - in place to warn people about the heatwave.

What has the Met Office said?

Met Office chief meteorologist Neil Armstrong said: “We are continuing to see exceptional temperatures in the UK today and it is important people plan for the heat and consider changing their routines. This level of heat can have adverse health effects.”