During a royal military parade on Saturday, three soldiers collapsed from the intense heat, with Prince William acknowledging the challenging conditions. The UK experienced temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time this year, reaching 30.5 degrees Celsius at Heathrow and later 31.2 degrees Celsius in Surrey.
The scorching weather prompted the Met Office to issue its earliest heat alert in England in nearly two decades. The Prince of Wales, leading the Colonel’s Review at Horse Guards Parade in central London, expressed his gratitude to the soldiers on social media for their participation despite the difficult conditions.
Photos captured one soldier being attended to by medical personnel and transported on a stretcher. The Colonel’s Review involved more than 1,400 soldiers and 200 horses from the Household Division, including the Welsh, Irish, Scottish, Grenadier, and Coldstream Guards, parading for inspection by Prince William. The event served as a prelude to the Trooping the Color parade scheduled for the following Saturday. During the review, soldiers and horses showcased intricate battlefield drill maneuvers synchronized with military music.
Anticipating the hot weather, the Met Office issued a heat-health alert, and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued an amber alert for hot weather until Tuesday morning in several regions. The alert indicated that the heat’s impact was expected to affect the entire health service and the general population, not just the most vulnerable individuals.
Despite the heatwave, certain areas of the country also faced torrential rain, hail, and gusty winds, leading to a yellow thunderstorm warning for parts of the UK, including Wales and a significant portion of southern and central England. Meanwhile, meteorologists predicted that the heat and humidity would persist for the next few days, with temperatures potentially reaching 32 degrees Celsius in central or eastern England. However, it is worth noting that the highest temperature recorded in June remains 35.6 degrees Celsius, which occurred in 1957 and 1976.