These are what the Met Office weather warning colours mean - and UK heatwave alert explained

As temperatures across the UK continue to soar, the Met Office has issued a number of weather warnings across the rest of this week.

This is everything you need to know.

What weather warnings are in place?

Currently in the UK, the Met Office has issued amber warnings for extreme heat for Wednesday 21, Thursday 22 and Friday 23 July.

The warnings cover Northern Ireland, London and South East England, South West England, Wales and West Midlands.

On Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 of July, the warnings change to a yellow weather warning for rain, affecting Wales, East Midlands, East of England, London and South East England, North West England, South West England, West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber.

What do the colours mean?

The Met Office issues its weather warnings via the National Severe Weather Warning Service, and refers to severe weather that has the potential to impact the UK.

The warnings are given a colour, yellow, amber or red, depending on a combination of factors, such as the impact the weather may have and the likelihood of those impacts occurring.

Yellow and Amber warnings “represent a range of impact levels and likelihoods” the Met Office says, and can include damage to property, travel delays, loss of water supplies and power cuts.

Red weather warnings indicate dangerous weather and that if you haven’t already done so, you should take action to keep yourself and others safe.

The Met Office says: “It is very likely that there will be a risk to life, with substantial disruption to travel, energy supplies and possibly widespread damage to property and infrastructure.

“You should avoid travelling, where possible, and follow the advice of the emergency services and local authorities.”

Some weather situations might be issued dual warnings - this happens when more than one type of weather poses a problem. For example, a dual warning could include a storm when impacts from both wind and rain may bring disruption.

The amber extreme heat warning is the first of its kind to be issued by the Met Office, with the weather service stating: “Much of the UK has been in heatwave conditions in recent days, but temperatures are expected to climb further early this week, possibly reaching 33C in some western areas, but widely high 20s and low 30s elsewhere.”