Met Office: UK marine heatwave could reach 'extreme' levels
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- The Met Office forecasts a marine heatwave reaching "extreme" levels around parts of the UK later this week, with sea temperatures potentially 4-5°C above average off the coasts of eastern and southern England.
- Small pockets off the coast of Brittany had already entered "extreme" marine heatwave conditions as of Tuesday, with areas closer to the UK expected to reach similar levels over coming days.
- Dr. Zoe Jacobs of the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton warned that sea temperatures are already at levels normally expected at the end of August, saying "serious impacts on ecological systems" could follow if the event continues.
- The heatwave has been fueled by "heat domes" that brought record-breaking air temperatures in late May and June, compounding long-term ocean warming driven by human-caused climate change that has steadily raised UK sea temperatures since the 1980s.
- Ecological risks include mass die-offs among seagrasses and kelp forests in cooler-adapted habitats, while warm-water species such as octopus are increasingly common around south-west England — and Prof. Matt Frost of Plymouth Marine Laboratory flagged declining cod populations and disease risks from non-native arrivals.
- Dr. Ségolène Berthou, an air-sea interaction specialist at the UK Met Office, warned that marine heatwave conditions are projected to become "average towards the middle-to-end of the century" if greenhouse gas emissions are not cut.
Why it matters: The shallow southern North Sea and English Channel heat up quickly when warm air parks overhead, which is why this event is intensifying so fast — and with UK seas having warmed steadily since the 1980s, scientists warn that extreme marine heatwaves could become routine by mid-to-end of century without emissions cuts, permanently reshaping fisheries and coastal ecosystems from seagrass beds to cod stocks.
