The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for extreme heat covering most of southern England and the Midlands. It’ll affect hundreds of thousands of festivalgoers at events running this weekend, including Boomtown and Bloodstock.
On Friday, the GFS weather model predicted temperatures could reach 38°C – the same model which correctly predicted July’s 40°C+ heatwave two weeks ahead. Fortunately, the Met Office is now expecting a slightly lower peak in the low-to-mid 30s, but this is still more than hot enough to make you unwell – especially if you’re outside all week at a festival.
The amber warning for extreme heat runs from Thursday to Sunday, meaning it’ll be incredibly hot and sunny for the entirety of most events this weekend. At Boomtown, the Met Office are predicting peaks of 30°C on Wednesday, 32°C on Thursday, Friday and Saturday before some cloud cover brings a slight drop to 29°C on Sunday.
Further north at Bloodstock, they’re predicting a high of 29°C on Thursday before three days of 30°C heat for the rest of the weekend. And while Boardmasters sits just outside of the warning area, it’s still expected to hit 25°C almost every day.
Other festivals running this weekend include Fairport’s Cropredy Convention in Oxfordshire, Castell Roc in Monmouthshire, One Love Festival in West Sussex and Deva Fest near Chester.
Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Dan Rudman said: “Thanks to persistent high pressure over the UK, temperatures will be rising day-on-day through this week and an Extreme heat warning has been issued.
“Temperatures are expected to peak at 35°C on Friday and Saturday, or even an isolated 36°C on Saturday. Elsewhere will see temperatures widely into the high 20s and low 30s Celsius.
“Coupled with the high daytime temperatures there will be some warm nights, with temperatures expected not to drop below the low 20s Celsius for some areas in the south.”
Dr Agostinho Sousa, Head of Extreme Events and Health Protection at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said: “Temperatures will feel very warm again this week, particularly in southern and central parts of the country.
“We want everyone to enjoy the warm weather safely when it arrives, but remember that heat can have a fast impact on health.”
The combination of the existing dry ground conditions and expected high temperatures has forced Boomtown to ban to use of all cooking stoves and other gas equipment, such as Jetboil’s, across the festival site. Hot water urns will be provided around the campsites for Boomtown citizens to cook instant food or make hot drinks, and members of the Boomtown Chat Facebook group have been suggesting alternative meals you can prepare without cooking equipment.
Organisers have also cut back on the use of fire and pyrotechnics within the event, particularly when it comes to theatricals and street performers. As of last week, we heard the main stages will still use pyro effects as normal – on the basis these are controlled environments with the onsite firefighters on hand.
Most festivals have now banned plastic bottles from being sold on-site, so make sure you’ve brought a couple of reusable bottles with you to top up from the free water points dotted around the site. If you can afford it, get yourself a blackout tent so you don’t wake up roasting when the sun hits it at 7am – a Fresh&Black tent can keep your bedroom 20°C cooler than it otherwise might be.
An umbrella or gazebo might help provide some shade to chill out in, and if you’re worried about five sweaty days without any showers, spend about a tenner on a portable solar camping shower to take with you. Fill it up from the water points and leave the bag in the sun – with the temperatures expected it’ll warm up in just a couple of hours – then hang it up high or get a friend to hold it up and you’ve got your own hot shower without any queues.
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Met Office chief forecaster Steve Willington said: “We could see parts of the UK entering heatwave conditions if the above-average temperatures last for three days or more. Many areas of the UK, especially the south will witness temperatures several degrees higher than average, but these values are likely to be well below the record-breaking temperatures we saw in mid-July.
“As the high pressure builds there is very little meaningful rain in the forecast, especially in those areas in the south of England, which experienced very dry conditions last month. Elsewhere in the UK, such as in northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, rain-bearing weather fronts will make limited headway against the high pressure, bringing some rain to north-western parts of the UK.”
Rebekah Sherwin is a deputy chief meteorologist with the Met Office. Commenting on the drivers for the hot spell, she said: “The weather pattern bringing next week’s hot spell is different to the one responsible for last month’s record-breaking temperatures which saw already hot air being drawn up from southern Europe adding to our own home-grown heat.
“This time, that is much less likely; instead, temperatures will build steadily within the lingering area of high pressure.
“There is some uncertainty about next week’s temperatures, although in early August sunshine in the UK doesn’t have the heating potential of mid-July as the sun is lower in the sky and the hours of daylight are marginally shorter. Both of these factors suggest that we’re very unlikely to see temperatures peak much above low to mid 30s. However, this would still be a hot spell of weather.”
- Boomtown Fair returns to the Matterley Bowl near Winchester from Wednesday 10th to Sunday 14th August 2022.
- Bloodstock takes place at Catton Hall near Walton-on-Trent from Thursday 11th to Sunday 14th August 2022.
- Boardmasters takes place at Watergate Bay near Newquay from Wednesday 10th to Sunday 14th August 2022.
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