Little respite for drought-hit Britain with more heat health alerts issued as temperatures set to hit 33C by next week

Published: 18:49, 6 August 2026 | Updated: 18:52, 6 August 2026 Britain is set to boil in yet another heatwave next week as the country's brief period of respite from searing heat could turn out to be short-lived. Temperatures dropped down closer to averages for this time of year from Wednesday, but they are expected to rise again from Saturday. A sixth heatwave of 2026 will arrive by next Tuesday, with large areas of central and southern England likely to see highs of 30C to 33C, Met Office forecasters said. Yellow heat health alerts have been issued for the East Midlands, West Midlands, South East, South West, East of England, Yorkshire and the Humber, and London. The warnings, issued by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will come into force at 9am on Saturday, August 8 and end at 9pm on Tuesday, August 11. Before then, thundery showers are set to batter the North and Scotland – but central and southern England are likely to miss out on most of the much-needed rain.  Much of the country has already been left bone-dry after two record-breaking heatwaves in May and June, which led to more than 2,600 excess deaths. Two further heatwaves in July turned fields and parks brown from the lack of rain and led to a number of huge wildfires igniting in beauty spots. People walk across dry parched grass, turned yellow-brown due to a lack of rain, near Tower Bridge People look at the dry garden outside the Tower of London, turned yellow-brown due to a lack of rain The yellow heat-health alerts warn high temperatures may have a significant impact across health and social care services in the affected areas, with a possible rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions.  'The warm weather is continuing once again,' said Honor Criswick, meteorologist at the Met Office, adding that Friday is set to be a 'nice, dry, settled day with quite a bit of warm sunshine around'. On Saturday, Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland can expect to see some cloud and outbreaks of rain, while it will be another dry day with plenty of sunshine elsewhere, with highs of about 29C (84F) across central and southern England and eastern areas of Wales, Ms Criswick said. 'Where we see the sunshine, it's going to start to turn quite increasingly warm on Saturday,' she added. 'Saturday night going into Sunday, that's a slightly warmer day, so temperatures are already going to be that bit higher starting off the day, which is why we'll see a bit of an increase once again on Sunday – probably reaching between 30C and 32C, and that'll be somewhere across south or south-east England. 'Once again on Sunday we do just have some bits of showery rain sinking their way southeastwards, so a few more areas could catch a few showers. 'But it's only just a few showers, and there's not much rain, really. 'It's not going to be enough to make any real difference to the dry summer we've had.' A slight dip in temperatures is expected next Monday, reaching around 27C (81F) to 29C (84F) across southern England. A cyclist is surrounded by brown grass which has gone dry in the drought-like conditions in Richmond Park, London Aerial view of dry grass surrounding the King Power Polo pitch in Holyport, Berkshire A much-loved 300-year-old pond in Wiltshire has begun to dry up due to unprecedented temperatures Cyclists in bathed in the early morning sun as they ride through Richmond Park, London Your browser does not support iframes. 'Then on Tuesday, they come up again,' Ms Criswick said, adding the heat will become more widespread across England and Wales. Last month was the driest July for England and Wales since records began in 1836, according to provisional figures released by the Met Office. Nineteen counties across England recorded effectively no rainfall – 1mm or less – across the whole of the month, Met Office figures show. England as a whole had just a 10th of the average rainfall for the month while Wales saw just 9 per cent of the average, with both countries seeing less than half of the rainfall in the previous record dry July in 1911. The UK, England and Wales have all recorded their sunniest Julys on record – and for England and Wales it was the sunniest calendar month ever observed, the Met Office previously said. Farmers have warned that 2026 could be the worst harvest on record, saying that the extreme summer has been 'completely brutal' for the country's crops. The exceptionally hot and dry spring and summer could have cut the country's cereals and oilseed harvest by 2.5million tons compared to earlier forecasts. This shortfall could be costing UK farmers as much as £390million, according to concerning analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) think-tank. Forecasts in March and April from European and US agricultural bodies suggested that UK yields were on course to be at or above ten-year averages in 2026. But fresh harvest data from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board suggests wheat, barley and oat yields will all be down. Wheat, around half of which has been harvested, will average 6.8 tons per hectare, well below the average. If the provisional yield estimates hold, the UK cereal and oilseeds harvest would be 19.5million tons – overtaking 2020 as the worst on record since detailed records began in 1984, even after good yields for oilseed rape, the ECIU warned. Even if things pick up, 2026 is likely to be one of the five worst harvests on record – four of which have occurred this decade amid increasingly extreme weather.