Fires are continuing to ravage through houses and buildings across the UK after temperatures topped 40C there for the first time ever.
A new record for the hottest day ever seen, of 40.3C, was recorded in Lincolnshire on Tuesday afternoon – beating the previous record of 38.7C in Cambridge three years ago by 1.6C.
Amid the sweltering heat, major incidents were announced by fire brigades in London, Leicestershire and South Yorkshire as dozens of fires broke out – with flames ripping through houses, schools and churches.
It comes as the temperature is set to drop by up to 10C in some areas on Wednesday, with heavy showers and thunderstorms to lash parts of the country, potentially causing localised flooding.
The Met Office said 34 observation sites across England provisionally broke the previous all-time record, ranging from Bramham, in West Yorkshire, to Charlwood, in Surrey, while a further five had equalled it on Tuesday.
A total of six sites, mostly in Greater London, saw temperatures reach or exceed 40C.
Scotland experienced its hottest day on record, with the temperature reaching 34.8C in Charterhall in the Scottish Borders, Met Office provisional figures showed.
Two “large-scale” incidents took place in Upminster and the village of Wennington, east London, where black smoke billowed into the air, while flames destroyed buildings and ravaged nearby fields.
Several other significant incidents also occurred in the capital, with people urged not to have barbecues or bonfires due to the “unprecedented” challenges crews face.
Jonathan Smith, assistant commissioner at London Fire Brigade, earlier told the PA news agency that crews would continue to tackle the flames into the evening.
He also said: “It would be premature to say we are out the other end of this incident”.
New smaller fires, related to the hot weather, were continuing to crop up in different corners of the city by 11pm on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, a serious blaze occurred in Barnsley when a row of houses in the Moorland Avenue area was consumed by flames, with crews continuing to battle fires elsewhere in the area.
Doncaster Council said a major blaze in Clayton also spread to three residential properties and there were reports of houses on fire in the Kiverton Park and Maltby areas of Rotherham.
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue tweeted: “We have declared a major incident due to high demand across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
“We will not be attending Automatic Fire alarms. Please only call us if it’s an emergency.”
It stood down its major incident warning later in the day.
Nine people have died since Saturday in swimming accidents and there has been widespread disruption to train services.
As temperatures soared:
– Interim deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, Miriam Deakin, said the heatwave was forcing hospitals to scale back the number of planned surgeries and install cooling units and try to cool down IT server rooms.
– An East of England Ambulance Service spokesman said the service had seen above-average call numbers since Monday afternoon and it expected to still be seeing an impact from heat-related illness into the weekend.
– Road congestion in several cities, including Birmingham, London and Manchester, was down on Tuesday, as people heeded advice not to travel, while commuter numbers were also down on the Tube and bus services in the capital.
– Sales of fans, ice cream and paddling pools and burgers rocketed as the heatwave sparked a spending spree on summer essentials, according to retailers, while tech experts urged smartphone users to keep their gadgets out of the sun to ensure they continue working properly.
Heatwaves are being made more intense, frequent and longer by climate change, and scientists said it would be “virtually impossible” for the UK to have experienced temperatures reaching 40C without human-driven global warming.
However, the Met Office said there would be a showery and thundery breakdown of the heat on Wednesday, with a yellow warning for thunderstorms in place for parts of south east, east and central England in the afternoon and evening.
It warned people to expect flooding or lightning strikes, delays and some cancellations to train and bus services, spray and sudden flooding, road closures and possible power cuts.
It will be fresher for most places, although some parts of East Anglia will still see temperatures reach as high as 30C.
Wednesday’s rain, where it occurs, will be much heavier than on Tuesday.
