Yellow heat warning for parts of England in place for the weekend | UK weather

Large parts of England face a heat warning over the weekend that is likely to be broken by thunderstorms.

The yellow heat-health warning issued by the the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Met Office is in place from midday on Friday until 9am on Sunday.

Temperatures could peak above 30C (86F) in East Anglia on Saturday before large thunderstorms bring heavy downpours and cooler temperatures.

The heat warning applies across London, the south-east, east Midlands, West Midlands, the east of England, and Yorkshire and the Humber.

The hot spell will be broken by thunderstorms in central and southern parts of England first.

The stormy weather could disrupt play at Wimbledon, where thundery showers are predicted between 10am and 2pm.

Heavy downpours are expected on Saturday with a risk of surface water gathering.

Oli Claydon, a spokesperson for the Met Office, said: “With some heavy downpours with thunder and lightning we could see as much as 50mm of rain accumulating over a fairly short period of time. So some potential surface water issues from those heavy downpours.”

Human-caused climate change is making hotter weather and extreme rainfall more common in the UK and around the world.

The world may have just experienced its hottest ever week, according to an unofficial analysis of data that suggests world temperatures in the seven days to Wednesday were the hottest on record.

The Met Office is forecasting temperatures of 27C to 28C on Friday in England before they rise to 30C in parts of the country on Saturday.

A yellow warning from the UKHSA means it is likely there will be an increase in the use of healthcare services by vulnerable people and an increase in risk to health for those over 65 or with pre-existing health conditions.

Grahame Madge at the Met Office said the warmer weather was from an area of low pressure to the west of Britain, bringing warm and humid air from south continental Europe. This would then dissipate when a cold front comes from the west on Saturday, bringing more moisture.

Madge said: “There will potentially be quite spectacular thunderstorms on Saturday running along the spine of England. Then we have a return to fresher conditions once that cold front has moved through.

“We’re not in heatwave territory. The temperatures are high 20s and potentially 30C, which would reach the threshold for a heatwave but we haven’t got the duration.”

Thunderstorms are also expected in Northern Ireland on Sunday.