LONDON — A woman in a bikini enjoys the summer heat in the capital’s Hyde Park today

LONDON — A woman drinks from huge bottle of water to keep hydrated while at the Fields Lido, in Hackney, August 12, 2025

An aerial photo of Broomhead Reservoir in South Yorkshire on August 12, 2025

Water minister Emma Hardy said after yesterday’s National Drought Group meeting that ‘the Government is urgently stepping up its response to ensure we are successfully managing the impacts of ongoing dry weather’.

‘Water companies must now take action to follow their drought plans – I will hold them to account if they delay,’ she said.

‘We face a growing water shortage in the next decade. That’s why we are pushing ahead with root and branch reform under our Plan for Change, which includes £104 billion of private investment to build nine reservoirs and new pipes to cut leaks.’

Tourists heading to the coast have also been warned of travel disruption, as car engines come under threat of overheating.

RAC Breakdown spokeswoman Alice Simpson said: ‘Major roads to tourist hotspots such as Devon and Cornwall, the south coast and Peak and Lake District are all more likely to suffer lengthy queues, so plan your journey well in advance if using these routes.’

The UK Health Security Agency has warned of significant impacts across health and social care services due to the high temperatures, including the potential for a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions.

Officials have recommended closing windows and curtains in rooms facing the sun to keep them cool, wearing a hat and sunglasses and covering up to protect from sunburn, and exercising in the morning or evening ‘when it is cooler’.

Professor Karol Sikora, the former director of a World Health Organisation programme, said the warnings were ‘complete nanny state’.

Of the UKHSA, he added: ‘They are trying to justify their existence. Torremolinos [on the Spanish Costa del Sol] is full of oldies like me basking in the sun.’

Meanwhile, former Conservative minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said: ‘I suggest people put on a Panama hat and drink a glass of refreshing Pimm’s while ignoring those wastrels at the UKHSA who would be more use if they joined the junior doctors on strike.’

Meanwhile, people living inside newbuild flats in Tower Hamlets have long complained about the conditions during hot weather.

During last year’s summer heat, one fed-up Leaside Lock resident showcased their desperation to the outside world by plastering a warning note to their window.

‘Do not buy these flats. Too hot,’ it said in capital letters.

At the nearby Three Waters block of flats, Sandra Monteiro, 41, told The Guardian that temperatures inside her 11th-floor home have not gone below 27C for the past two months.

‘It feels like you’re in a trap,’ the SEND teacher said.

The conditions, she said, had left her feeling ‘out of breath’ and ‘exhausted’, with it also causing her frequent headaches.

Wednesday could bring 33C to 34C heat to eastern England including Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire and East Anglia, and Thursday may see 29C to 30C in London and East Anglia.

Monday’s highest temperature was 31.9C at Heathrow.

Seasonal averages are generally between 18C and 22C in Britain, and go up to 23C for London.

Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said yesterday that the UK is on day two of the heatwave and there is ‘overall a very hot, very warm week to come’.

The Met Office defines a heatwave as temperatures meeting or exceeding a certain threshold for three consecutive days or more.

This is 25C for most of the UK, but rises to 28C in London and its surrounding area, where temperatures are typically higher.

It is the fourth heatwave the UK has experienced this summer and it comes after the warmest June and fifth warmest July since records began.

Lower pressure to the west and higher pressure to the east of the country is creating a southerly airflow which is drawing in hot and humid air from Europe, he added.

The near continent is experiencing high temperatures with France reaching the low 40Cs on Monday.

‘As we go through the week, there’s lots of sunshine and the air isn’t really going anywhere … that sort of then hangs around,’ he added.

‘It’s drawing in at the moment and then sort of stays across the UK for the rest of the week.’

Fire spread around three hectares of grass in Wanstead Flats, east London, on Monday afternoon.

Wales may see its hottest day of the year on Tuesday but temperatures are not expected to break 2025 records in other parts of the UK.

England’s high for 2025 stands at 35.8C recorded in Faversham, Kent, on July 1.

On Monday, officials warned that England is suffering from ‘nationally significant’ water shortfalls despite rain in July.

The national drought group – which includes the Met Office, regulators, government, water companies and other organisations – has met as five areas of the country remain in drought, with six more in prolonged dry weather status.

England is seeing widespread environmental and agricultural impacts from the lack of water, which is hitting crop yields, reducing feed for livestock, damaging wetlands and river wildlife, and increasing wildfires, the group said.

Experts warn climate change is driving more extreme weather conditions in the UK, worsening drought and dry spells, and making heatwaves more frequent and severe.