LONDON, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Much of the United Kingdom (UK) was gripped by scorching weather on Monday, with no respite from the sweltering heat forecast before the middle of this week. The authorities have warned of travel disruptions and suggested people work from home in the coming days.

RED ALERT

The UK could have its hottest day on record this week, the country's national weather service (Met Office) said on Monday, with temperatures tipped to hit a record 40 degrees Celsius at places. This has prompted the office to issue its first ever red extreme heat warning, reminding the public that the heat poses a risk of serious illness and even death among healthy people.

In the County of Surrey in southeast England, the temperature already exceeded 30 degrees Celsius at 10 a.m. on Monday, and it had climbed to 35 degrees Celsius by midday, the Met Office said.

The heatwave is being brought to the country by a high-pressure pocket of extremely hot air that is slowly moving up from north Africa.

The current record high temperature in the UK is 38.7 degrees Celsius recorded at Cambridge Botanic Garden in July 2019.

Summer heatwaves in the UK are usually caused by an extended period of dry, sunny conditions, usually associated with high pressure that snuffs out cloud formation, Richard Allan, professor of climate science at the University of Reading, said.

"Human caused climate change is intensifying heatwaves, droughts and flooding events," Allan explained, "Heating from greenhouse gas emissions makes the atmosphere warmer and more thirsty for water, which can parch and scorch one region and deluge the larger amounts of moisture in storms elsewhere."

SERVICE DISRUPTIONS

Network Rail, owner and infrastructure manager of most of the country's railway network, said on Sunday that it planned to close part of a key transport artery between London, York and Leeds due to the extreme weather expected on Tuesday.

The company said it will set a speed limit on trains across most of England and Wales amid the possibility of tracks buckling due to the soaring temperatures.

According to the authorities, a huge increase -- as many as 1,000 per day -- can be expected in vehicle breakdowns across the country, the automotive services company RAC said on Friday. "Roads could start to melt," it said.

"Such a large increase in people needing assistance is bound to put pressure on all breakdown services, so it's essential drivers have an emergency kit with them to keep as safe as possible while they wait for help," RAC Breakdown spokesperson Rod Dennis said.

Wildfires are also a risk in the country. The fire and rescue service that covers the County of Suffolk in east England said its firefighters attended to a number of incidents around the county on Sunday.

Over the next few days, the Royal Parks of London will be on fire watch.

The heatwave has also added pressure on the National Health Service (NHS), Miriam Deakin, director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, the membership organization for NHS trusts in England, said on Monday.

"The NHS estate is not built to cope with extreme weather," Deakin said. "Over the past 48 hours, we've heard that some trusts are having to scale back the number of planned surgeries as operating theatres are getting too hot." Enditem

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