Burnham faces election pressure as UK braces for record heatwave
A red heat warning and Burnham’s election pressure collided as records loomed, from 37C forecasts in England to a 9,231-vote Makerfield majority.
The Met Office issued a red extreme heat warning for much of southern and central England and parts of Wales as temperatures were forecast to reach 37C in southern England on Tuesday. Andy Burnham was facing renewed pressure over whether any change at the top of Labour would require a general election.
Burnham’s return to Parliament through the Makerfield by-election, scheduled for Thursday 18 June, has sharpened the debate. He had previously said a new prime minister must call a general election if they wished to deviate from the manifesto, but he also ruled out an early general election if he became prime minister. That combination has left Labour MPs and ministers pressing him to be clearer about his intentions, especially after the 9,231-vote majority in Makerfield delivered a setback for Nigel Farage and Reform UK.
Mike Tapp said anyone who forced out a prime minister would need to go to the polls to stop the “constant churn” of politicians.
Amber warnings were in place from Monday through Thursday across much of southern and central England and parts of Wales, with the Met Office forecasting 34C in southern England, 35C in southeast Wales and the possibility of June records falling. The UK June temperature record of 35.6C, set in Southampton in June 1976 and at Camden Square in June 1957, and Wales’s June record of 33.7C, set in 2000, were both expected to be broken.
The Met Office warned of very high humidity and consecutive tropical nights, when temperatures do not fall below 20C. The Met Office warned that a plausible scenario could see UK temperatures reach 45C by 2056. Across Europe, a heatwave was building in Spain, France and Italy, with some places likely to rise above 40C. Europe is the fastest-warming continent, and the European State of the Climate 2025 report found Europe’s second most severe heatwave on record in July 2025, lasting 25 days, with 50.5C recorded at Silopi in Türkiye.
Wimbledon was also heading into its hottest opening day on record, with 29.7C recorded at Kew Gardens.
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