By work experience reporter Yusrah Burghli

An extreme weather amber alert has been issued from today (August 11) running through to Sunday (August 14).

The Met Office says the hot spell will develop across parts of England and Wales, including Kent.

The warning says adverse health effects are likely to be experienced by those vulnerable to extreme heat and adds that more people are likely to visit coastal areas, lakes, rivers and other beauty spots leading to an increased risk of water safety and fire-related incidents.

Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Dan Rudman said: “Thanks to persistent high pressure over the UK, temperatures will be rising day-on-day through this week and an extreme heat warning has been issued.

“Temperatures are expected to peak at 35C on Friday and Saturday, or even an isolated 36C on Saturday. Elsewhere will see temperatures widely into the high 20s and low 30s Celsius.

“Coupled with the high daytime temperatures there will be some warm nights, with temperatures expected not to drop below the low 20s Celsius for some areas in the south.”

Temperatures in Thanet are predicted to reach around 27 degrees.

The hot spell is the second in recent weeks with temperatures reaching a record-breaking maximum temperature on 19 July, with 40.3°C recorded at Coningsby, Lincolnshire.

Kent Public Health issued a level three hot weather alert during that spell and schools including Royal Harbour Academy took measures by providing students with water bottles upon arrival and extended the non-school uniform days permitted.

In addition to these precautions, following government guidelines, RHA prohibited students from going outdoors during break and lunchtimes.

The Met Office reported that July was the driest in the southeast since 1935 with the UK experiencing just 56% (46.3mm) of its average rainfall.

The dry conditions  have resulted in Kent firefighters tackling more than 400 grass fires since the start of July, which is nine times the amount attended in the same period last year – an increase linked to the exceptionally hot, dry weather.

The latest hot spell has prompted a warning from Kent Fire & Rescue Service urging the public to do all they can to stay safe and help reduce preventable grass, crop and woodland fires.

KFRS Area Manager Leanne McMahon said: “In prolonged periods of hot, dry weather, fires can develop and spread rapidly, with greater severity and grass fires often require a large amount of fire service resources and can take many hours or days to fully extinguish.

“While some grass fires are not preventable, we want everyone to consider their actions and play a part in reducing the chance of grass fires taking hold in the first place, to protect people, property and nature.”

Advice to help reduce accidental grass fires:

Leanne added: “If you see a grass fire, it’s important to quickly move to a safe place and call 999 – please don’t try to tackle it yourself.

“Some people may also really struggle with the extreme heat, so we ask that residents check in on older or poorly loved ones and neighbours, especially if they live alone, to check they have everything they need to be as comfortable and safe as possible.”

Kent Wildlife Trust has also been working across the county to reduce chances of fires igniting at nature reserves, by recreating wetlands.

Kent’s last remaining ancient semi-natural fenland of significance, Ham Fen, has been creating wetlands with use of beavers as well as water buffalos.

The benefits of the water buffalo opening up the scrub and reedbeds, is that it creates pools which then inhabit fish, invertebrates and amphibians. Alongside this, beavers establish dams that flood parts of rivers which helps to attract fish and insects.

Director of Conservation, Paul Hadaway explains the positive from the creation of wetlands: “If you take Ham Fen as an example, the reserve had been historically drained and continues to be under pressure from water abstraction.

“The team has established a reed swamp habitat and increased the volume of water retained and stored on the site by creating new wetland features, this has allowed us to provide the right environment for the water buffalo and beavers to thrive.”

Their work involves maintaining already existing and establishing new ponds.

A partnership has been formed between the Trust and RSPB, their goals focus on re-wetting woodland (like Blean) to make more resilient towards the aftermath of climate (drastically increased heat).

Kent Wildlife Trust, Director of Conservation, Paul Hadaway said: “We also know that native woodlands are far more resistant to fire than conifer plantations so by encouraging native species to grow and using bison to engineer the woodland in a natural way, like we have in West Blean and Thornden Woods, we can create an environment less at risk to the threats posed by climate change.”

However, Kent Wildlife Trust say nature reserves remain vulnerable to the threat of fire as they have large areas of grass and heathland that would be destroyed if a fire were to break out and it would also devastate the wildlife in the area.

To address this, the public are asked to not bring BBQs to nature reserves.

As of August 12, South East Water has enacted a hose pipe ban which covers parts of Kent but not Thanet, which is served by Southern Water.

The SE water company says: “We have been producing an additional 120 million litres of water a day to supply our customers, which is the equivalent of supplying a further four towns the size of Maidstone or Eastbourne, daily”.

The condition of the ban is a restriction on using any hose pipe connected to the mains water supply such as the use of garden sprinklers, irrigation systems, hose pipes and anything attached to them like pressure washers.

Switching to the use of buckets in order to water plants, wash cars and fill pools is heavily advised.

Earlier this week Minister George Eustice called for the hose pipe ban to be extended across the rest of the country.

Southern Water recently introduced a Temporary Use Ban in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight and also applied to the Environment Agency for a Drought Permit on the River Test.

The Temporary Ban should last up to 3 weeks.

This decision has been described as a “vital step” as to preserve and protect the wild life of that in the River Test and River Itchen (where it gets water).

The ban has not been extended to the areas of Kent provided by Southern Water but the company is asking people to use water wisely.

Customers are also being encouraged to apply for Southern Water’s offer of a free home visit – to help them save water, and save on their bills.

Households can register their interest in the free water-saving home visit, where an engineer can fit up to £100 of free water-saving devices in kitchens, bathrooms and toilets. These include tap inserts, water-efficient showerheads and dual-flush converters – even water butts outside.

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A very thorough piece. Best keep hold of the reporter or Kent online might nick them. God knows they need some people who can string a sentence together and into a clear narrative.

Oh for the times – including 1976 – when we burned the stubble! How quickly societies forgot.😂

Noticed two bonfires in Westgate this morning how stupid are people.

What a wonderful summer! Reminds me of my youth.

Southern Water’s suggestions on how to conserve water:

Stop pouring billion of litres of sewage into the sea

Fix the leaks to avoid wasting 80-100 million litres of water a day

Oh no, your tap is the problem.

Fixing leaks is a must. Water companies should spend some of their vast profits on maintenance. But this sort of project takes weeks or months to plan and execute. We currently have a serious water shortage, which is affecting us *now*. With no effort at all, we can clean our teeth using a tooth mug rather than a running tap, we can make sure we run our washing machines on a full load, we can flush the loo when absolutely necessary. We can do these things right now, this minute. And the more we conserve water, the less likely it is that we’ll run out. And, for those of us with water meters, it’ll save us £££ too.

You’ll be loving the water wars in ten to fifteen years then I reckon Andrew, because that is where this will all end up.

Supporting evidence can be seen in the fact “water futures” became a tradeable commodity two years ago…

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