Environment Canada issues blistering heat warnings for B.C. Interior regions

Environment Canada says unseasonably hot weather in B.C.’s Okanagan, Thompson, and Boundary regions will push temperatures into the mid 30s into the weekend.

Environment Canada issued heat warnings Friday covering portions of the province’s Interior, saying the hot weather was expected to persist through to Sunday.

The agency says daytime temperatures are expected to reach 38 C in the Boundary region, while temperatures in the south and central Okanagan, South and North Thompson, and Fraser Canyon regions will reach up to 36 C.

The latest heatwave has broken records in parts of the province, including a 38.2 Celsius temperature in Nelson on Thursday, surpassing the last high from 1938, while records were also set in McKenzie, Nakusp, Richmond and Smithers.

WorkSafeBC says the warnings should be a wake-up call to employers as it’s been dealing with increasing claims related to heat from people who work both indoors and outside, including farm workers, kitchen employees and construction workers.