Evaluating heatwaves is troublesome as a result of they’re location dependant and the present Met Office definition has solely been in place since 2019.
A heatwave occurring in some unspecified time in the future throughout the summer time is pretty widespread.
The final time the UK skilled three heatwaves was in 2022, when the very best temperature on document – 40.3C – was noticed at Coningsby.
By way of the variety of heatwave days – when at the least one location meets the temperature threshold – there have been 25 days up to now in 2025.
Solely in 1989 and 2018 had been there extra heatwave days by this level within the yr – with 26 and 34 days, respectively, in accordance with information from climate web site Starlings Roost Weather, external.
Temperatures over the following few days shall be round 7-10C above common for mid-July.
Whereas linking local weather change with particular particular person excessive climate occasions may be troublesome, scientists say local weather change is mostly making heatwaves hotter, longer and extra frequent.
The pinnacle of conservation on the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Belief, Matt Jackson, instructed BBC Breakfast the warmth has each short- and long-term impacts on wildlife.
A right away impact is wildlife patterns changing into out of step, he mentioned.
“We get the butterflies which feed the birds, as an example, popping out [at a time that is] out of sync with the chicken breeding cycle – so they do not have the quantity of meals they should feed their chicks.”
Nevertheless, drought is the “largest menace” to nature reserve administration in the long run, Mr Jackson added.
“It’s altering the best way our nature reserves work and we’re having to try to work out the way to adapt to that.”