After Britain’s dreary winter perhaps we should have been more cautious in our prayers for sunshine – as the third heatwave of summer will strike next week.
Temperatures in the South could reach 29C (84F) today, rising to the low-30s on Tuesday and Wednesday before the South East sees a peak of 34C (93F) on Thursday or Friday, says the Met Office.
This follows June’s heatwave when a record temperature for the month of 37.7C was set in Lingwood, Norfolk, on Friday, June 26.
That came after May’s record heatwave when 35.1C was reached in Kew, London, smashing the previous peak of 32.8C set in 1922.
Yesterday beachgoers in Durdle Door and Weymouth in Dorset made the most of the sunshine.
But gardeners know there’s one certainty that follows yet another heatwave… a hosepipe ban.
Southern Water has issued a garden ban for more than a million customers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight from July 10.
South East Water’s temporary hosepipe ban for people in Kent came into force last Friday.
Beachgoers made the most of the warm weather on Weymouth beach in Dorset yesterday
Beachgoers also flocked to Durdle Door on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset yesterday
Southern Water explained that ‘the warmest spring on record, followed by a record-breaking heatwave, has left river levels 25 per cent lower than expected’.
The Met Office’s Becky Mitchell said: ‘By comparison to the heatwave in June, this one won’t be as hot and humid but it will be a prolonged spell which lasts all week.’
Yellow heat health alerts issued by the UK Health Security Agency cover the East Midlands, East, South East, South West, London and the West Midlands from midday yesterday until July 11.
The agency said health and social care services were ready for increased requests from people at greater risk from the heat.
…but go easy on the lemonade – it might leave you depressed
They are a great way to cool off in the heat – but fizzy drinks like lemonade could sour your mood.
People who drink a lot of sugar-sweetened drinks are up to 19 per cent more likely to develop severe depression, a study shows.
It is thought they affect the delicate balance of bacteria in the gut, triggering inflammation that impacts brain chemistry.
Researchers studied the fizzy drinking habits of 200,000 adults over 12 years, in which 6,500 of them developed depression. Those who regularly downed sugary drinks were 18 per cent more likely to suffer depression.
People who guzzled the most fizzy drinks were 19 per cent more likely to be hospitalised for depression, the study by Jilin University in China found.
Study leader Prof Lina Jin said: ‘Identifying modifiable risk factors to prevent or delay the onset of depression represents an urgent public health priority.’
