As the UK is engulfed in its second major heatwave of the year, a senior meteorologist has warned that the country is on course to experience regular ‘super heatwaves’ that will have a devastating impact.
Jim Dale said that the UK and the rest of the world is in danger of ‘boiling over’ as extreme heat becomes commonplace due to climate change.
Mr Dale spoke as the country bakes in a second heatwave that could see the hottest June on record, as temperatures are expected to reach 40°C.
The blazing weather has resulted in the closures of schools across the country, train and London Underground disruption, and a danger to life warning being issued.
Mr Dale has spent the last 40 years warning about the impact of global warming and now believes the planet is close to a tipping point.
‘Yes, from time to time, in the past 50 or 100 years, we have had heatwaves,’ he said. ‘However, the top 10 global and UK temperatures have nearly all come in the last 20 years.
Greta Thunberg told Metro that the blistering temperatures, which could break the record for June, are ‘only the beginning’. The climate activist has said the UK’s leaders have ‘their heads completely buried in the sand’ over the climate crisis as a 40°C heatwave hits the country. The scorching heat is expected to last until at least Thursday after the Met Office issued a four-day extreme heat warning across large parts of the UK. #heatwave #gretathunberg #climatechange
‘The dots are very clear, and they make a picture; one of records falling left, right and centre.
‘It’s not just air temperature records, it’s sea temperatures too, with record levels in the Mediterranean even in June, never mind July and August.
‘The oceans act as a boiler house as they absorb and harbour the heat. The more they warm up, the more likely we are to see the temperatures we are seeing today.’
Mr Dale views the devastating wildfires and floods that have broken out around the world in recent years as an inevitable result of global warming.
Earlier this week, Londoners were hit with an early morning thunderstorm that caused two house fires and biblical rainfall that resulted in localised flooding, forcing the closure of Balham Tube station and the suspension of the Elizabeth Line at Heathrow.