{"id":601523,"date":"2026-05-24T14:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T14:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/601523\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T14:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T14:29:12","slug":"health-officials-warn-against-drinking-fruit-juice-smoothies-and-soft-drinks-in-uk-heatwave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/601523\/","title":{"rendered":"Health officials warn against drinking fruit juice, smoothies and soft drinks in UK heatwave"},"content":{"rendered":"

Temperatures could top 34C in parts of England on bank holiday Monday\"Young<\/p>\n

The UKHSA has urged people to avoid three popular drinks during the heatwave(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Health officials have warned people to avoid drinking too many fruit juices, smoothies and sugary soft drinks as the UK braces for record-breaking temperatures during a heatwave this May bank holiday weekend.<\/p>\n

The warning comes as temperatures are forecast to soar as high as 34C on Monday (May 25), with forecasters saying the UK could see its hottest May day and warmest bank holiday on record.<\/p>\n

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has urged those out enjoying the sunshine to avoid fruit juices, smoothies and fizzy drinks, encouraging people to drink more water instead. This is because it says fruity and fizzy drinks can be ‘high in sugar which dehydrates the body’.<\/p>\n

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In its online heatwave guidance, the UKHSA writes: “Water and diluted squash or lower fat milks are good choices. Fruit juice, smoothies and soft drinks can be high in sugar which dehydrates the body.<\/p>\n

“Limit the amount of fruit juice or smoothies that you drink, and swap sugary soft drinks for diet, sugar-free or no added sugar varieties.<\/p>\n

“If you are going out, take a refillable bottle filled with water. Take extra water for journeys on public transport or by car.<\/p>\n

“Alcohol has a dehydrating effect on the body, so it is a good idea to choose alcohol-free options, or alternate alcoholic drinks with a glass of water.”<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Common prescription drug that needs ‘particular care’ during heatwave as UK temperatures set to soar<\/a><\/p>\n

It comes as UK recorded its hottest day of the year so far on Saturday (May 23) when temperatures reached 30.5C in Frittenden, Kent. It was the first time this year that the UK had passed 30C, with this last occuring in May in 2012.<\/p>\n

But forecasters say the heat is set to intensify further<\/a> on Sunday (May 24) and Monday, with highs of 33C to 34C possible in London and the South East.<\/p>\n

Records could be broken for the hottest May day in the UK and England, which currently stands at currently 32.8C, as well as the UK and England\u2019s hottest bank holiday, which sits for now at 33.3C.<\/p>\n

Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said most people will see ‘wall-to-wall blue sunshine’ on Monday.<\/p>\n

He explained: “That extra sunshine once again allowing those temperatures to climb even further and so now we\u2019re expecting to see around 33C in the far south-east of London but quite broadly a potential for 30C into parts of northern England, areas of Wales and right throughout the Midlands as well.<\/p>\n

“If we hit that 33C, maybe even locally close towards 34C, that would bring us our hottest bank holiday day on record, as well as our hottest day in May on record, so it really is quite exceptional heat that is building for the time of year.”<\/p>\n

Ahead of the heatweave, the UKHSA issued heat health alerts across the whole of England, including amber heat health alerts for the East Midlands, West Midlands, the East of England, London and the South East.<\/p>\n

The alerts mean there is likely to be ‘a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions’ and increased demand on all health and social care services, according to the UKHSA website.<\/p>\n

Yellow alerts have been issued for the North East and North West, Yorkshire and Humber, and the South West. The less severe alert means significant impacts on health and social care services are possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Temperatures could top 34C in parts of England on bank holiday Monday The UKHSA has urged people to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601524,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,102,50,2940,56,1018,19377,54,55],"class_list":["post-601523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-health","tag-news","tag-the-met-office","tag-uk","tag-uk-weather","tag-ukhsa","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}