As the UK endures its second major heatwave of 2026, senior meteorologist Jim Dale has warned that the country is on course to experience regular 'super heatwaves' with devastating impacts. Temperatures are expected to reach 40°C, potentially making this the hottest June on record, prompting school closures, train and London Underground disruptions, and a danger-to-life warning.
Climate tipping point near, says expert
Jim Dale, who has spent 40 years warning about global warming, believes the planet is close to a tipping point. 'Yes, from time to time, in the past 50 or 100 years, we have had heatwaves,' he said. 'However, the top 10 global and UK temperatures have nearly all come in the last 20 years. This is the new abnormal.' He added that record sea temperatures, including in the Mediterranean even in June, indicate that oceans are absorbing more heat, acting as a 'boiler house' that fuels extreme weather.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg told Metro that the blistering temperatures are 'only the beginning' and accused UK leaders of having 'their heads completely buried in the sand' over the climate crisis. The Met Office has issued a four-day extreme heat warning across large parts of the UK, with the heat expected to last until at least Thursday.
Wildfires and flooding linked to global warming
Dale views recent devastating wildfires and floods worldwide as inevitable results of global warming. Earlier this week, London experienced an early morning thunderstorm that caused two house fires and localised flooding, forcing the closure of Balham Tube station and suspension of the Elizabeth Line at Heathrow. Last summer, wildfires raged across Europe: at least 10 firefighters died in Turkey, and one person died in Aude, France, with evacuations ordered in both France and Spain.
'When you get these extremes, it points to one thing: ordinary weather, and ordinary heatwaves, are becoming super-heated,' Dale said. He highlighted the 46°C recorded in southwest Spain last summer, the hottest June weather ever there. 'These records are not being broken for any arbitrary reason. They are being broken because of climate change, record levels of CO2 and record levels of fossil fuel emissions.'
Red warning and heat-related deaths
The exceptional red warning for 'danger to life' level heat is now in place, covering southern England and Wales from parts of Kent to Swansea. This is the second time the Met Office has issued such a warning, the first being in summer 2022. Globally, heatwaves have been linked to rises in heat-related deaths. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), between 2022 and 2024 there were around 160,000 excess heat deaths across Europe—deaths that would not have occurred without prolonged high temperatures.
'When you have these heat domes, or heat spikes which last a day or two, you have to ask what the result is,' Dale said. 'The main one is that people die.' He noted that while temperate zones like the UK dip in and out of heat, 'when we dip in, we dip in with a vengeance.' He warned of 'unlivable temperatures' in the Middle East, where 50°C plus has been recorded, as well as in the Far East, America, Africa and Southern Europe.
Adaptation and denial
Dale stressed that the UK must adapt to a warmer climate through changes in diet, house building, and other areas. He also called for debunking climate change denial that rejects human causes like greenhouse gas emissions. In his book 'Weather or Not?', Dale's mantra is 'weather is king and climate is the kingmaker.'
'The danger is here and now but it's particularly for our children and grandchildren, because they'll be the ones picking up the ashes,' he said. 'They'll have the difficulty going forward because 40°C becomes 50°C very quickly within their lifetimes.' He warned that 50°C for six or seven days in a row in the UK would be a disaster for infrastructure, roads, the NHS, and people. 'This should be the top subject, because it's coming.'
The UK is committed to reaching net zero by 2050, aiming to balance total greenhouse gas emissions with removals from the atmosphere to limit global warming.
