Red warning for extreme heat across West Midlands

A rare red warning for extreme heat has been issued for parts of the West Midlands later this week.

The warning is in place from 09:00 on Wednesday until 21:00 BST Thursday and covers Birmingham, Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

A red warning, the most severe level of alert, indicated dangerous weather was expected and could lead to serious illness or danger to life and substantial travel disruption, the Met Office said.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has also issued a red heat-health alert covering six regions of England, including all of the West Midlands.

Temperatures across parts of England and Wales are set to increase significantly in the next few days with the potential for 39C in some areas.

Separate amber warnings for heat are also in force across a wider area of the region from Monday until the end of Thursday.

A Met Office spokesperson said "population-wide adverse health effects" could be experienced, not limited to those who were most vulnerable to extreme heat.

It could also lead to power and other essential services, such as water, electricity, gas or mobile phone services, being affected.

Where a red warning is issued, the Met Office advises people to avoid travelling where possible and to keep out of the sun and avoid any exercise between 11:00 to 15:00, when the sun is strongest.

There are three levels of heat-health alerts issued by the UKHSA in partnership with the Met Office, yellow, amber and red, which forewarns of periods of high temperatures which may affect the health of the public.

"Red is the rarest and most severe, an indication of just how unprecedented and exceptional the heat will be by midweek - a period of two to three days during which we could see temperatures nearing 40C with humidity, and nights offering little relief," said BBC Midlands Today weather presenter Shefali Oza.

"On occasion, temperatures may not fall below 20C during these tropical nights and by day the sun is also at its strongest at this time of year so UV levels will be very high," she added.

"The level of heat we'll experience this week is likely to impact health and infrastructure."

National Rail has urged rail passengers to carry bottles of water if travelling and to allow more time for their journeys ahead of the hot weather.

Transport for West Midlands said disruption to travel was likely and advised passengers to take care when travelling on the network.

Severn Valley Railway announced services would be cancelled on 24 and 25 June due to the extreme heat, with plans to resume from Saturday onwards.

On Monday, Worcester Racecourse confirmed racing on Wednesday had been abandoned in the interests of safety for its horses, jockeys and all staff.

Ticket holders would be contacted, it added.

In Staffordshire, the county council said due to the extreme heat, all household waste recycling centres would be closed between 13:00 and 15:00 from Monday until Friday.

"These temporary closures are to protect staff safety, while helping us keep sites open as normal for the rest of the day," a spokesperson said on Facebook.

The heat is also affecting animals, with Wild Zoological Park in Stourbridge announcing it would close to visitors for the next three days.

All bird and animal shows were also cancelled from Tuesday to Thursday, a spokesperson for the family-run zoo added.

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