Yes is the short answer, according to a host of climate scientists and the Met Office. Experts also say it is due to winds blowing in a pile of warm air from northern Africa and the Sahara, as well as the subtropical pressure system ‘Azores High’ creeping further north as a result of global warming. Fires even broke out across southern England today amid growing chaos on rail transport as schools are closed again due to extreme heat. The mercury hit an unprecedented 40.2 C (104.4 F) at Heathrow Airport at 12:50 p.m. — about an hour after the 39.1C (102.4F) reading in Charlwood, Surrey, surpassed the previous UK all-time high of 38.7C (101.7F). ) in Cambridge in July 2019. In third place is 38.5 C (101.3 F) in Kent in August 2003 and 38.1 C (100.6 F) in Suffolk yesterday is fourth. Part of the reason behind the warm weather is that a pressure system called the Azores High, which is usually located off Spain, has grown and is being pushed northward. This has brought scorching temperatures to the UK, France and the Iberian Peninsula. High pressure near the southern half of Britain, responsible for the recent warm weather, also continues to dominate the generals. When this develops, it triggers heat waves, which can also bring so-called “tropical nights” — when nighttime temperatures do not drop below 20 °C. These heat waves are becoming more likely and more intense due to climate change. Meanwhile, winds turned southerly late last week, bringing warm air from north Africa and the Sahara and allowing the UK to take advantage of some of the 113°F (45°C) heat from Spain and France . Highs of at least 40C are expected in England this afternoon – but could rise even further to 43C Firefighters attended a blaze on the Dartford Marshes in Kent today after temperatures reached 40C for the first time on record The Azores High is usually in the south, but is currently just over the UK and Ireland, extending from the Azores Islands
WHAT ARE THE MAIN AIR MASSES OVER BRITAIN?
There are five main air masses over Britain, along with a sixth that is a variation of one of them.
The UK is more likely to get maritime air masses because our weather mainly comes from the west. The reason for this is due to the direction the Earth rotates, leading us to experience the prevailing westerly winds.
Although Britain also gets air masses arriving from the east, they are not as common, forecasters say.
Polar Maritime
Arriving from Greenland and the Arctic Sea, it brings moist and cold air that leads to cold and rainy weather.
Arctic Maritime
As its name suggests, this air mass originates from the Arctic. It brings with it moist and cold air that causes snowfall in winter.
Polar Continental
When the Beast from the East hit Britain in 2018, the chilling air was Polar Continental and came from Siberia. It brings warm air in summer and cold air in winter, leading to dry summers and snowy winters.
Tropical continental
Everyone’s favorite summer mass, the Tropical Continental is what brings us heatwaves and bags of sunshine. The air is hot and dry and comes from North Africa.
Tropical Maritime
Arriving from the Atlantic Ocean, this warm and moist air brings cloud, rain and mild temperatures to the UK.
Return Polar Maritime
The returning Polar Maritime is a variant of the Polar Maritime.
However, it takes the wind first south over the North Atlantic and then northeast across the UK.
As it passes south, the air becomes unstable and moist, but moving northeast it passes over cooler water, making it more stable.
It brings mostly dry weather and clouds.
This tropical continental air mass is one of five battling for supremacy in Britain and is what gives us heatwaves and bags of sunshine.
Professor Hannah Cloke, a natural hazards researcher at the University of Reading, said the intensity of the heat was “enough to kill people and animals, damage property and cripple the economy”.
Dr Mark McCarthy, head of the Met Office’s National Climate Information Centre, said: “The hottest temperatures in the UK tend to occur when our weather is influenced by air masses from continental Europe or North Africa.
“There is already strongly integrated warming due to climate change across the continent, raising the possibility that the UK’s existing temperature record will be challenged.”
The Azores High, which is undergoing “unprecedented” changes, is also a major contributor to Britain’s current heat wave.
A new study shows that the high-pressure atmospheric system is being driven by climate change and is already causing droughts in parts of Portugal and Spain.
The Azores high rotates clockwise over parts of the North Atlantic and has a significant effect on weather and long-term climate trends in Western Europe.
The researchers say that this system “has changed dramatically over the past century, and that these changes in the North Atlantic climate are unprecedented in the past millennium.”
Using climate model simulations over the past 1,200 years, experts from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution found that the Azores High began to grow to cover a larger area about 200 years ago, as greenhouse gas pollution began to rise.
It expanded even more dramatically in the 20th century, alongside global warming.
Now the high pressure system, which is usually over the Atlantic and around 1,000 miles from mainland Portugal, has grown and pushed further north, bringing high temperatures to the UK.
“We expect the area of high pressure over the Azores to extend further to the south-west of the UK,” said Daniel Rudman, from the Met Office.
“This will lead to much warmer and mostly dry weather, especially in the south, although it may also bring cloud and rain to the northwest at times.”
Meanwhile, July’s long days and short nights also mean bright sunshine creates high temperatures.
Professor Richard Allan, professor of climate science at the University of Reading, said: “Summer heatwaves in the UK are usually caused by a prolonged period of dry, sunny conditions, usually associated with high pressure which eliminates cloud formation.
“Because there is little soil moisture, the sun’s energy heats the soil and the air above rather than consuming the water that evaporates.
“These conditions can be intensified by warm, dry winds blowing from continental Europe, where heat and drought have set in over the summer.”
He added: “Higher temperatures and drier soils due to human-induced climate change are turning intense heatwaves into extreme or even unprecedented heatwaves.”
Britain has been slowly getting warmer since the 19th century, with the 10 warmest years since 1884 all occurring since 2002.
In the past three decades alone, the UK has become 1.62°F (0.9°C) warmer.
“Climate change has already affected the likelihood of extreme temperatures in the UK,” said Met Office scientist Dr Nikos Christidis.
“In a recent study we found that the likelihood of extremely hot days in the UK has increased and will continue to increase over the course of the century, with the most extreme temperatures expected to be seen in the south-east of England.”
As the top of the Azores has expanded, winters in the western Mediterranean have become drier. This chart shows the number of exceptionally long Azores High winters in a 100-year window
The UK had its ninth hottest summer on record last year and its hottest since 2018, with an average temperature of 15.28°C (59.5°F). The chart above shows which areas of Britain had warmer than average summer temperatures compared to the 1981-2010 average
What weather will we have? There are five main air masses battling over Britain. They include Polar Maritime, Arctic Maritime, Polar Continental, Tropical Continental and Tropical Maritime. A sixth air mass, known as the Polar Maritime Return, is also affecting the UK
Extreme heat events occur in natural climate variation due to changes in global weather patterns, the Met Office said.
However, he added that the increase in frequency, duration and intensity of these events in recent decades is clearly linked to observed global warming and can be attributed to human activity.
The chances of seeing 106°F (40°C) days in the UK could be up to 10 times more likely in the current climate than in a natural climate unaffected by human influence, experts say.
Professor Klock described the red extreme heat warning as a “wake-up call” to the climate emergency.
“Even as a climate scientist who studies these things, this is scary. This seems real. Early last week I was worried about my goldfish getting too hot. Now I am worried about the survival of my family and my neighbors,” he said.
Why is the weather in Britain so changeable? The UK is ‘unique’ because FIVE air masses battle for supremacy above it, bringing an extraordinary combination of atmospheric conditions leading to sunshine one minute and rain the next
Hot and sunny one minute, rainy the next, sometimes the weather in Britain can be so wildly changeable that it’s hard to keep up.
But why is it so variable and prone to change from day to day? Or even, much to the chagrin of those who have forgotten a coat, hour after hour?
And has climate change affected it?
MailOnline spoke to a number of meteorologists about what makes the UK’s weather so ‘unique’, as one put it, and whether any other country in the world compares.
At its heart are five major air masses that each have similar temperature and humidity properties. They fight for supremacy over Britain and can unleash an extraordinary mix of atmospherics when they collide.
‘The UK…
