Extreme heat warnings issued for first time in the UK

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The UK's weather agency, the Met Office, warned on Friday that record temperatures expected next week pose a risk of "serious illness or danger to life".

The office issued its first-ever "red warning" of extreme heat for Monday and Tuesday, when temperatures in southern England are forecast to reach 37C.

There is a chance temperatures could breach the highest ever recorded in the UK, 38.7C, which was set in 2019.

Tourists walk on the sun-baked Parliament Square on July 14, 2022 in London, England.

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The weather alert, which covers a big chunk of England from London up to Manchester, warns of danger to life, disruption to air and rail travel and potential "localised loss of power and other essential services, such as water or mobile phone services".

It comes as Europe battles with extreme heat also.

In the Bordeaux region of southwest France, 10,000 people have been forced to evacuate as thousands of firefighters struggle to contain two wildfires.

This photo taken on Friday July 15, 2022 by the fire brigade of the Gironde region (SDIS 33) shows firefighters using hose to fight a wildfire near Landiras, southwestern France, Thursday, July 14, 2022.

In the Spanish city of Seville, one of the hottest spots in Europe this week, some unions called for workers to be sent home.

Temperatures in many parts of Spain have been topping the 40C mark for several days and are expected to continue to do so through to next week.

Seville became the first city in the world to take part in a pilot project that names and categorises heatwaves in an effort to raise awareness of the health hazards caused by extreme heat and the precautions citizens should take.

A man carries a fan as he walks outside Parliament, in London, Tuesday, July 12, 2022.

"Climate-driven extreme heat is killing more people than any other of the climate-driven hazards," said Kathy Baughman McLeod, director of the Arsht-Rockefeller Resilience Center of the Atlantic Council.

"Heat is invisible, it is silent and it kills slowly, and people are not aware of it."

Source: 9News