British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government stood accused Sunday of failing to take seriously an impending heat emergency as forecasters warned that lives were at risk.

Johnson missed a crisis ministerial meeting in Downing Street Saturday while he took a weekend break at his Chequers country retreat — and was hosting a farewell party for friends Sunday before he leaves office in September.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab then appeared to welcome the likelihood of temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in England for the first time.

"Obviously there is some common-sense practical advice we are talking about — stay hydrated, stay out of the sun at the hottest times, wear sun cream — those sorts of things," Raab told Sky News on Sunday.

"We ought to enjoy the sunshine and actually we ought to be resilient enough through some of the pressures it will place," he added, insisting there was no reason for schools to close when the mercury peaks on Monday and Tuesday.

The comments raised eyebrows, as did Johnson's absence from the Downing Street meeting about the government's response to the heatwave. He was forced to resign partly because of other parties held during Covid lockdowns.

Speaking after Raab on Sky, College of Paramedics chief executive Tracy Nicholls said: "This isn't like a lovely hot day where we can put a bit of sunscreen on, go out and enjoy a swim and a meal outside.

"This is serious heat that could actually, ultimately, end in people's deaths because it is so ferocious," she said.

"We're just not set up for that sort of heat in this country."

Contrary to Raab's sang froid, after Saturday's meeting, government minister Kit Malthouse warned that transport services face "significant disruption" during the heatwave and said the public should work from home if possible.

The UK capital is expected to see the highest temperatures and mayor Sadiq Khan advised Londoners only to use public transport if "absolutely necessary".

Ambulance services are on crisis footing, and some schools in southern England have already said they will stay shut.

Police urged the public to stay out of waterways after a 16-year-old boy drowned in a canal in the Manchester region, northwest England, on Saturday.

The Met Office, Britain's state meteorological agency, has issued a first-ever "red" warning for extreme heat, cautioning there is a "risk to life" and attributing the heatwave to man-made climate change.

Britain's highest recorded temperature is currently 38.7C set in Cambridge, eastern England, on July 25, 2019. But that looks set to be surpassed in the Met Office's projections for this week.

UK climate chief hints at resignation as Tory race heats up
London (AFP) July 17, 2022 –

Britain's climate minister, who emotionally steered a UN summit to a deal last year, has threatened to quit as some of the contenders to become Conservative leader equivocate on the government's net zero target.

The legally enshrined target to achieve net carbon emissions by 2050 has been questioned by four of the five remaining candidates to succeed Prime Minister Boris Johnson, citing the costs when Britain is tackling a cost-of-living crisis.

Heading into a second TV debate by the candidates on Sunday evening, only former finance minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to stick by the target and by "green levies" to help pay for it.

COP26 president Alok Sharma told Sunday's Observer newspaper that it was "absolutely a leadership issue", as Britain and Europe face a record-breaking heatwave this weekend.

"Anyone aspiring to lead our country needs to demonstrate that they take this issue incredibly seriously, that they're willing to continue to lead and take up the mantle that Boris Johnson started off," the climate minister said.

Asked if he could resign if candidates showed weakness on net zero, Sharma said: "Let's see, shall we? I think we need to see where the candidates are. And we need to see who actually ends up in Number 10 (Downing Street)."

Under Sharma's chairmanship in Glasgow, nearly 200 countries last November pledged to speed up the fight against rising temperatures, after two weeks of marathon negotiations.

But India and China weakened the language of the final text to retain high-polluting coal, forcing tears and an exasperated apology from Sharma as he brought down the gavel.

Among the other Conservative candidates, former junior minister Kemi Badenoch has said net zero amounts to "unilateral economic disarmament" by Britain.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and grassroots favourite Penny Mordaunt have both called for a rethink of the green levies brought in by Sunak when he was finance minister.

Asked about Sharma's threat, Truss supporter and former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith told Sky News: "I'm sorry he feels that."

Truss still backs the principle of net zero but "we have to just put that slightly on the back burner whilst we make sure people don't suffer" from surging inflation, he said.