Amber heat health alerts have been issued for much of eastern England for later this week as temperatures rise again.

The East Midlands, East of England, London, and the South East are all under the amber alerts from 9am on Wednesday until 9am Thursday.

With the temperature forecast to peak in the mid-30s Celsius on Wednesday, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which issues the alerts, warns that significant impacts are likely across health and social care services due to the high temperatures.

Yorkshire and the Humber, the West Midlands, and the South West are all under less severe yellow alerts for the same period.

This latest heatwave comes after some of the driest regions of the UK missed their chance of rain over the weekend.

Parts of the northern and western UK saw some rainfall on Saturday and Sunday, with further showers and unsettled conditions expected over the next few days.

But southern parts of the country – where the least amount of rain has fallen – are set to see temperatures climb once again, with more dry and sunny weather in the forecast.

It comes as parts of Wales have officially entered drought status, while parts of southern, central and eastern England remain in “prolonged dry weather”, the final stage before drought is declared.

The coming days will only exacerbate dry conditions as another heatwave is expected to be declared, with temperatures peaking around 34-35C (93-95F) in south-east England or the East of England.

The hot weather will initially be focused on central and eastern England by Tuesday before spreading slightly northwards and westwards into midweek.

However, Wednesday is likely to be the hottest day, with readings of 30-35C across the Midlands, southern and eastern England.

Scotland and Northern Ireland will generally remain cooler and showery with temperatures in the high teens or low to mid-20s Celsius.

Current forecasts suggest that the intense heat across southern and central areas of the UK this week will be short-lived compared to previous heatwaves this summer.

Over the weekend, rainfall was focused mainly across the north and west of the UK.

Meanwhile, the driest locations – including central, southern and eastern England – saw little, if any, meaningful rainfall.

As the spell of hot weather develops across England and Wales, the lack of significant rain means dry ground and low soil moisture levels are likely to become an increasing concern.

The driest parts of England and Wales have seen exceptionally low rainfall so far this month.

Some areas, particularly in parts of north Wales and southern and eastern England, have recorded only a few millimetres of rain or even less.

Wisley in Surrey has been one of the driest locations in southeast England with 40 days of no rainfall up to and including 26 July.

In the driest spots, totals have been below 2% of the average July rainfall.