The Met Office has taken the rare step of issuing a red, danger-to-life heat warning for central and southern England and Wales – only the second time it's deployed its highest alert for heat – with temperatures forecast to hit 40C. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has also issued a red heat-health alert for six regions of England. Forecasters warn of consecutive tropical nights, transport disruption, and health impacts across the wider population and not just the vulnerable.
Put simply, the UK's summers are no longer occasionally warm; they are structurally hotter, and this week's weather rams this point home.
For general counsel and compliance leads, heatwaves of this intensity pose a tangle of legal, regulatory, and operational risks that cut across health and safety, employment law and contractual performance.
There is no maximum temperature for workplaces in the UK, so there's no specific temperature at which it becomes officially too hot to work. In May 2026, the Climate Change Committee recommended that the Government should "commit to a national maximum temperature for workplaces." At the moment, however, no such maximum is on the cards in Great Britain.
This doesn't mean employers can ignore the heat: employers are still required to provide a "reasonable" temperature in the workplace during working hours and manage health and safety risks. What is reasonable will depend on the workplace, the type of work and the employee's role....
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