Extreme heat UK heatwave live: Met Office issues extreme heat warning as government convenes emergency Cobra meeting Parts of country face fifth heatwave of the summer with highs of 38C forecast this week LIVE Updated 1m ago Taz Ali Wed 12 Aug 2026 09.28 BSTFirst published on Wed 12 Aug 2026 09.19 BST Share Key events 1m ago Lib Dems and Greens welcome Cobra meeting but call for more urgent action 11m ago Parts of UK brace for another heatwave as government convenes emergency Cobra meeting The exposed, cracked, and dried mud bed of Hollow Pond, where the water levels have significantly dropped, in east London.
Nearly three-quarters of England and all of Wales are in drought.
While welcoming the government’s announcement, the Lib Dem environment spokesperson Pippa Heylings said emergency meetings were not enough to put out fires or protect our communities, saying “we urgently need a national strategy to make the UK climate-ready”.
She added: “Extreme weather warnings, widespread water shortages and wildfires raging across our countryside are a stark reminder that the climate crisis is gripping the country, yet the government is moving at a snail’s pace, waiting until the fifth heatwave this summer to act.” People walk on parched grassland near a wildfire warning public information notice in Richmond Park, London.
What we urgently need is concrete action.
“That must include taxing fossil fuel giants to pay for firefighting helicopters, a cool space in every community, and a maximum working temperature.
“The prime minister must also commit to no new oil and gas extraction in the North Sea.
We cannot negotiate with the science.” Parts of the UK will face the fifth heatwave of the summer this week with temperatures forecast to reach highs of 38C, prompting the Met Office to issue an amber weather warning for extreme heat.
The record-shattering heatwave has caused wildfires and drought in many parts of the country, with this summer on course to be the UK’s hottest since records began, according to the Met Office.
The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) said firefighters have responded to 966 wildfires across England and Wales this year, including 185 in the first 10 days of August alone.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) general secretary, Steve Wright, told Times Radio the country faces a national emergency “right now”, with wildfires seen “all across” the UK.
Damage from the wildfires at Dunwich Heath in Suffolk, which burnt through over 371 acres of heathland (150 hectares) and required more than 600 firefighters to tackle the blaze.
Southern Water has applied for a rare drought order that would restrict businesses in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight from using water for non-essential activities, including cleaning cars and filling swimming pools, citing exceptionally low rainfall and concerns over supplies.
If approved, it would be the first such ban since May 2006, with the decision resting with the environment secretary, Angela Eagle.
The extreme heat has prompted the government to convene an emergency Cobra meeting – the second this year in response to a heatwave.
