Ascot fully prepared as level three heat-health alert is issued for Friday

Ascot said on Wednesday it was comfortable with its precautions for horses and people after a level-three heat-health alert was issued for much of the south-east of England for Friday.

Many parts of the southern half of the UK are likely to exceed 30C and may even reach 34C in some places on Friday, with the temperature currently forecast to rise to 32C at Ascot on the fourth day of the royal meeting.

Two horses pulled up in the Ascot Stakes on Tuesday, Marshall Plan and Surrey Gold, were both reported by the veterinary officer to be showing signs of heat stress.

It was 24C at the course on Tuesday and the temperature continues to soar, reaching up to 26C on Wednesday and 27C on Thursday before peaking on Friday, when the Commonwealth Cup and Coronation Stakes are the highlights.

A level three heat-health alert is the second-highest of four levels and is categorised as 'heatwave action' requiring social and healthcare services to target specific actions at high-risk groups. Level four is a national emergency.

Ascot clerk of the course Chris Stickels believes the current measures in place will be sufficient to deal with horse welfare in the heat.

Ascot: could be hit by 32C temperatures on FridayCredit: Eamonn M. McCormack (Getty Images)

He said: "We've raced at Royal Ascot in temperatures of 32C, 33C and 34C before. I don't want to sound flippant but we have plenty of water and devices here to help out with cooling horses. There's lots of water around and we have the cooling misting fans to use too."

Plenty of buckets of water have also been placed at key places on and off the track for the horses, as well as extra water valves should the warm conditions cause more problems than anticipated.

"We have plenty of cold water and ice available in order to help cool horses down. They're all in strategic places," Stickels said. "There's lots of water around the horse exits and further around the track and in the pull-up areas, as well as on the way back to the stables.

"There's plenty of staff and extra water valves too. It's a huge amount of resources and I don't think anything extra will be required."

Agostinho Sousa, head of Extreme Events and Health Protection at the UK Health Security Agency, said: “Temperatures are forecast to reach 30C in some parts of the south on Friday and we want everyone to enjoy the hot weather safely when it arrives and be aware of good health advice for coping with warmer conditions."

The soaring temperatures have raised questions over a possible relaxation of Ascot's strict dress code policy, which requires men to wear jackets in the Queen Anne, Village and Royal Enclosures and recommends they do the same in the Windsor Enclosure, but Ascot said it has yet to consider making any changes.

While Thursday and Friday's crowds are set for baking temperatures, Ascot's attendance figure for Wednesday was 36,896.

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