Overview
- The Met Office forecast that parts of southern England could hit about 33–34°C this week, prompting renewed consumer safety warnings.
- Motorists are being urged to clear parked cars of everyday belongings because closed vehicles can heat far above the outside temperature and expose items to extreme conditions.
- Health advisers warned that many common medicines are rated for storage below about 25°C and that specific products such as insulin, EpiPens and some inhalers can lose effectiveness if left in hot cars.
- Retail and safety guidance highlights rarer but real risks to other items, including pressurised aerosols, carbonated drinks, lithium‑ion battery devices and sunscreen, which can leak, burst or be damaged by high heat.
- Officials reiterate never to leave babies, children, elderly people or pets unattended in vehicles and advise carrying essential medicines in a cool bag and moving perishables or sensitive goods out of parked cars during hot spells.