UK issues first amber heat alert of 2026 as temperatures soar

The UK Health Security Agency issued its first amber heat-health alert of 2026 for the East Midlands, East of England, London, South East and West Midlands, warning that the early-season heat could strain health and social care services across much of England. The alert ran from 2pm on Friday 22 May until 5pm on Wednesday 27 May, while a yellow alert covered the North East, North West, South West and Yorkshire and the Humber for the same period.

The Met Office said the country was heading into an exceptional spell of warmth for May, with high pressure dominating the bank holiday weekend and temperatures potentially meeting heatwave criteria in some places. Forecasts on Friday pointed to increasingly warm conditions through the weekend and into next week, with the hottest weather most likely in the south and the UK’s hottest day of the year so far expected to arrive. Later forecasts suggested highs of 33C in southern England and the Midlands, with Monday 25 May likely to be the warmest day of the long weekend.

That level of heat can be especially dangerous this early in the season, when people have not yet adjusted to sustained high temperatures and local services are being asked to respond quickly. UKHSA said the alert was designed to help health and social care services prepare for impacts on vulnerable people, especially older adults, young children and people with long-term health conditions, who face the greatest risk of heat-related illness when temperatures rise sharply.

Officials also warned that the danger will not end at the shoreline. The Met Office said the sea would still be relatively cold even as air temperatures climbed, and the Royal Life Saving Society UK cautioned that cold water shock remains a real risk in open water. That warning matters as families and day-trippers head outdoors for the bank holiday weekend, especially to the coast, where the contrast between hot weather and cold water can prove fatal in seconds.

The alert system itself shows how seriously Britain’s heat risk is now being treated. With amber in place across five regions and yellow across four more, the weekend’s warm spell has become a test of public-health readiness as much as a weather event, with health planners focused on avoiding preventable illness and deaths as temperatures climb.