A HEATWAVE IN Britain has led to the Met Office telling people to stay out of the sun.

The south of the country has been experiencing extremely warm weather, with London today hitting 31 degrees. That heatwave is expected to last until the weekend and has seen the health-watch status upgraded to orange – one step below national emergency levels.

The warning is “triggered when the Met Office confirms threshold temperatures for one of more regions have been reached for one day and the following night, and the forecast for the next day has a greater than 90% confidence level that the day threshold temperature will be met”.

Its enactment requires social and healthcare services to target high-risk groups.

The Met Office is advising people in the midlands, east and southeast of England to take action.

“Stay out of the sun. Keep your home as cool as possible – shading windows and shutting them during the day may help. Open them when it is cooler at night. Keep drinking fluids. If there’s anybody you know, for example an older person living on their own, who might be at special risk, make sure they know what to do.”

There is a 90% chance that threshold temperatures will be reached over the coming days.