People urged to check on neighbours during UK heatwave

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jul/22/people-urged-to-check-on-neighbours-during-uk-heatwave-asthma-hot-weather

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England’s chief nursing officer has urged people to check on their neighbours as a heatwave is expected to hit parts of the UK this week.

Ruth May said people should take care as temperatures rise, while Asthma UK urged those with the condition to keep up their medication. Temperatures are expected to reach 34C (95F) in London on Wednesday.

May said: “Nobody wants to spend a pleasant day stuck in a hospital or urgent treatment centre. It’s important … to check in on neighbours and loved ones who can suffer the most from heat and pollen.”

People with minor illnesses are urged to check the NHS website or call 111 for help.

Dr Andy Whittamore, the clinical lead at Asthma UK, said: “A toxic cocktail of hot, humid weather and rising pollen levels this week could be extremely hazardous for the 5.4 million people in the UK with asthma, triggering deadly asthma attacks.”

He added: “Hot weather can also increase the amount of pollutants, pollen and mould in the air which can trigger asthma symptoms. If you are worried about the weather or hay fever affecting your asthma, make sure you take your hay fever medicines, keep taking your regular preventer as prescribed by your doctor and carry your blue reliever inhaler at all times.

“We’d advise you to drink lots of water to prevent dehydration and plan any outdoor activities for earlier in the day when the air quality tends to be better.”

The Met Office said the hot weather could bring some disruption from heavy thundery downpours, forecasting a wet start to the week for some areas, with a yellow weather warning of rain in place for western Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of northern England. This could lead to some localised flooding and travel disruption, according to the Met Office.

Temperatures on Monday will reach 28C (82F) in southern England , which is forecast to have a dry and bright start to the week.

“As we head through the week, the rain will generally begin to ease across northern areas, so the potential is for much of the UK to see some hot conditions,” a Met Office spokesman said.

“There will be some sunshine around during the week, but also the risk of some heavy thundery downpours as well.”

Temperatures will increase as the week progresses, according to forecasts, reaching 33C on Tuesday, 34C on Wednesday and 35C on Thursday.

Although the main concentration of the hot weather will be in central and south-east England, parts of Scotland could reach the high 20s.

To be classed as a heatwave, the temperature in the majority of UK has to hit 25C for three consecutive days. But the threshold increases further south-east in the country, with temperatures in London needing to reach 27C.

The maximum temperature recorded in July is 36.7C, on the first day of the month in 2015 at Heathrow.

Looking ahead to the weekend, the Met Office expects temperatures to fall.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows there were 513 more deaths than the five-year average between 1 July 1 and 30 Septemberlast year.

On 27 July, there were 251 more deaths than the five-year average for the same day. This was the day after the temperature reached 30.7C, the highest recorded of the year.