Heat wave has hit the UK!

Thursday 02 July 09

The Department of Health has issued special advice for the elderly and other people at risk from the heat.

London and the South East are now at Level 3 of four, with temperatures set to reach at least 32C.

It is the first time that the Met Office has issued a Level 3 heat wave alert since June 2006. The Met Office has said a key factor in the raising the alert had been night time temperatures with some areas not falling below 18C.

On Tuesday the governments health advice line NHS Direct took a total of 318 calls from members of the public complaining about sunburn, heat-exhaustion, breathing difficulties and other heat-related ailments.

The advice from doctors is to keep out of sun between the hours of 11-3pm. If you need to go out use sun cream at factor 15 and over. People will need to drink at least 2 ltrs of water a day and they are advised to keep an eye out for the older and younger generation as they will be very vulnerable.