Could UK winters be getting hotter and are we ready?

The UK’s hottest temperature is now set for July 2022 at 40.3C. Before 1990, the UK did not see 37C.

But these records will surely continue to be broken.

If global warming continues at its current rate, temperatures in the mid-forties could be a big possibility for England by 2050, according to Met Office forecasts.

And while each year may not be hotter than the last, the UK may even experience hotter temperatures in the second half of this century.

High temperature also dries the soil. When there is less humidity, less heat energy is used for evaporation – leaving more energy to heat the air and amplify thermal conditions.

Some scientists have argued that climate change could cause high pressure systems to “stick” – although this is not yet certain.

This warm air can create a “heat dome” that gets trapped underneath, which is what Europe is experiencing this week.

Dr Akshay Deoras, senior research scientist at the University of Reading, said: “Climate change (climate change) is loading the atmosphere with higher temperatures and making extreme temperatures more intense than in the past.”

Scientists say the only way to limit rising temperatures this summer is to rapidly reduce emissions of planet-warming gases such as carbon dioxide.