2018 British Isles heat wave

The 2018 Britain and Ireland heat wave was a period of unusually hot weather that took place in June, July and August. It caused widespread drought, hosepipe bans, crop failures, and a number of wildfires. These wildfires worst affected northern moorland areas around the Greater Manchester region, the largest was at Saddleworth Moor and another was at Winter Hill, together these burned over of land over a period of nearly a month.

A heat wave was officially declared on 22 June, with Scotland and Northern Ireland recording temperatures above for the first time since the July 2013 heat wave. The British Isles were in the middle of a strong warm anticyclone inside a strong northward meander of the jet stream, this was part of the wider 2018 European heat wave. The Met Office declared summer 2018 the joint hottest on record together with 1976, 2003 and 2006.

Weather earlier in 2018

Spring started with record cold in early March with the 2018 Great Britain and Ireland cold wave. There were three spells of summer heat afterwards, starting in mid-April. The April 2018 heatwave began on 18 and 19 April. St James's Park in London recorded the country's hottest April day in nearly 70 years when temperatures reached . The unseasonably hot weather lasted for four days. On 22 April, the hottest London Marathon ever was recorded, with the temperature reaching . No national records were broken, but many places set local record high temperatures for April.

After a cooler period from the end of April, temperatures started to rise again during early May. The May Day bank holiday was the hottest on record, with west London recording . A few days later, temperatures began to fall, but were still above average. Temperatures began to rise even higher towards the end of May. It sparked violent thunderstorms leading to flash flooding, giving some parts of the country their first measurable precipitation during May. On 27 May, of torrential rain fell at Winterbourne, West Midlands, causing a flash flood. The majority of the country was hot and sunny. May 2018 was one of the warmest and sunniest on record in the UK.

Before the heat wave, anticyclonic conditions prevailed across the UK. May and early June had been much warmer and drier than average, the latter being the driest since 1925 due to a persistently strong Azores High. This high-pressure block prevented Atlantic low-pressure weather systems from reaching the British Isles.

Summer heat wave

The heat wave began on 23 June 2018 as high pressure built across the UK. Temperatures gradually rose, and new records were set in towns and cities across the British Isles. These include Glasgow in Scotland, Shannon in Ireland and both Belfast and Castlederg in Northern Ireland.

This temperature rise was part of a heat wave that spanned the entire Northern Hemisphere. The heat wave had seen the hottest night ever recorded on Earth in Oman, with the lowest temperature recorded at , and the deaths of at least 33 people in Canada.

Wildfires began to break out across England. The two largest fires broke out at Saddleworth Moor on 25 June, and at Winter Hill on 28 June, the former being England's largest in living memory. As of September 2018, arrests were made on the charge of arson, yet the cause of these fires was undetermined. However, the factor that allowed the fires to establish was the persistently hot and breezy weather conditions. This dried out vegetation and the underlying peat, allowing it to easily burn.

On 2 July, forecasters predicted that high pressure would continue over the UK and that the heat wave could continue for another two weeks. On 5 July, a weak weather front arrived from the west, but was mostly halted over Ireland and the Irish Sea. This caused some scattered showers over the Pennines, and a thunderstorm that caused flash floods in Tunbridge Wells. The weather also affected roads nationwide, and gritters were mobilised due to the asphalt concrete softening under the extreme heat. In Heaton, Newcastle, a man sank into a melted road and required a rescue from firefighters, and a bin lorry sank into a road in Newbury, Berkshire.

On 10 July, a weak cold front crossed Britain from north to south, bringing low cloud levels and scattered showers. However, this cool air was quickly heated by the sun the next day, increasing temperatures yet again. The Met Office announced that the highest temperature on 23 July was , recorded at Santon Downham in Suffolk.

Effects on the economy

The long period of dry warm weather, although with unpleasant levels of humidity, strongly boosted the domestic tourism trade during this period. The official Visit Britain body forecast the number of international visitors to the UK would increase by around 15% from the USA alone, as the effect of the worldwide Royal Wedding publicity fed through into fine summer weather and late holiday bookings. Hotels in competing Mediterranean resorts, such as Ibiza, were forced to slash their prices as demand from British tourists declined sharply as people decided to holiday in the British Isles. Remoter resorts and destinations benefited from visitors' attempts to escape the domestic crowds, and rural Ireland reported a dramatic increase in tourism with an average of 70% occupancy rates at smaller establishments.

Many companies concerned with outdoor activities reported the usual boost in sales that comes from a good summer, and estate agents reported that the warm dry summer was also helping their industry. Fresh produce growers such as the soft fruit sector were largely unaffected by the lack of rain, with British Summer Fruits chairman Nick Marsto telling ''Horticulture Week'' trade magazine that the... "soft-fruit sector has largely avoided any adverse effects.

Health effects

The heatwave added to pressure on the NHS, on A&E departments and elsewhere. Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth said, "I am very worried about the impact on the NHS of this summer. We know that this hot weather, (...) affects very elderly, vulnerable people. We know that asthma sufferers suffer particularly badly in the weather. shworth mentioned his first hand experiences shadowing a hospital consultantwith lots of elderly vulnerable people being admitted to A&E, lying on trolleys because there's no beds in the hospital".

There were fears of over 1,000 excess deaths during the heat wave. The Environmental Audit Committee of MP's reported fears 7,000 heat-related UK deaths annually by 2050 unless the government acts promptly. Chair of the committee, Mary Creagh said, "The government must stop playing pass the parcel with local councils and the NHS and develop a strategy to protect our ageing population from this increasing risk". At risk, groups include elderly people, small children and people with heart and/or lung conditions. There were calls for government regulations to protect an ageing population from the effects of heat, effects include increased risk of death.Regular heatwaves 'will kill thousands
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