12 minutes ago, martin-w said:

I guess we should be grateful we don't live in the South of France where thousands are evacuating due to the fires. The French authorites are calling it "an apocalypse of heat".

Indeed. They’ll be envious of our temps tomorrow onwards. I can’t help feeling some of these fires are started deliberately. Grass doesn’t spontaneously combust. A broken bottle might be responsible for some but arsonists get a great kick from seeing the results of their actions.

Yesterday outside we had up to 35C and inside was between 29C to 34.7C - The loft being the highest. Looks like today we shall see up to 37C outside and if still the case, looks like there will be thunderstorms in the evening. 

It took until 11:45 yesterday for the temp to hit 30°C here. Today it’s just been reached at 09:02. 🥵

16 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

It took until 11:45 yesterday for the temp to hit 30°C here. Today it’s just been reached at 09:02. 🥵

 

My son just sent ma a WhatsApp message. 28 degrees in Birmingham at only 9:15. 

41 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I can’t help feeling some of these fires are started deliberately.

 

Forest fires are a natural occurrence of course, whether humans are around or not, part of the cycle. But yes, estimates vary, but some say as many as 80% of forest fires are started by humans. Not usually deliberately, often carelessness. 

Edited July 19, 20223 yr by martin-w

29 minutes ago, martin-w said:My son just sent ma a WhatsApp message. 28 degrees in Birmingham at only 9:15. 

32°C here now. Getting too warm even to sit outside in the shade. More Ribera required. 😁

27 minutes ago, martin-w said:

Forest fires are a natural occurrence of course, whether humans are around or not, part of the cycle. But yes, estimates vary, but some say as many as 80% of forest fires are started by humans. Not usually deliberately, often carelessness. 

Yes, I agree some can be accidental.

France, Spain, Italy, Portugal... all got wildfires. Morocco too.

Meanwhile, here in Guernsey, the sky is darkish grey and rain due, rumbles of thunder I can here.

 Think its moving up slowly from the South East, so you guys in the UK should get it tonight or tomorrow I'm guessing.

 

Edit: Amazing how quickly the temp has dropped, I actually shivered a bit. Very dark and thundery. 

Edited July 19, 20223 yr by martin-w

We are in the "Dog Days" in Florida right now. Normal temps are the high 90s with 70%+ humidity. F of course. However, almost everyone has AC. 

3 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Yes, I agree some can be accidental.

Some forest fires are caused by lightning or downed power lines.

Noel

12 minutes ago, birdguy said:

Some forest fires are caused by lightning or downed power lines.

Noel

Not in southern France, Spain or Portugal this summer I suspect. It’s been very dry and it takes gales to bring down power lines.

@martin-w, a weather report from Somerset said it dropped from 32 to 24 in 16 minutes as the cold front moved through.

That front should pass through here this evening. I’m envious of you shivering. 😁

7 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

The maximum forecast was 33°C compared to the 37.1 recorded yesterday. But humidity was never mentioned and that makes a huge difference. Yesterday my station recorded only 20% humidity making it very dry air and therefore more bearable.

I saw a 37C forecast in the video near London.  Anyhow, it looks like this current heat wave will be slightly worse than that one.

I was surprised at the low humidity you're having, down around 20%. That's almost like the U.S. Southwest where humidity is typically 10-20% in the Summer.  It certainly makes the heat more bearable.

Dave

1 hour ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I’m envious of you shivering. 😁

 

Don't worry, It was only a brief shiver. I'm hot again now. 🙄 

1 minute ago, dave2013 said:

I saw a 37C forecast in the video near London.  Anyhow, it looks like this current heat wave will be slightly worse than that one.

I was surprised at the low humidity you're having, down around 20%. That's almost like the U.S. Southwest where humidity is typically 10-20% in the Summer.  It certainly makes the heat more bearable.

Dave

It’s gone above 40°C in Surrey, south of London. It went over 100°F here a short time ago. And it’s 91°F in my lounge. No air-cond - obviously. Gritting teeth and wishing for tonight when the cold front comes through. Back to 21°C tomorrow.

Yes, humidity unusually low for these islands. Look at the source of the air. From North Africa via Spain and France.

High air temperatures don't cause forest fires, but I see the media trying to directly correlate the two things.

Dry conditions make forest fires more likely, and maybe higher temps result in things drying up faster, but that doesn't mean there is a direct cause and effect relationship between temperature and forest fires   Maybe I'm wrong and there's some study which proves a direct relationship.  

Anyway, parts of Italy have been in a drought condition for weeks or months now.  I don't know about France.

Dave