Train services have been cut, schools closed and ambulance crews are braced for a rise in 999 calls as temperatures soar into the 30Cs in the heatwave.
Temperatures had risen to 37.5C in Cavendish, Suffolk, and 37.4C in Kew Gardens, west London, by 3pm, making it the hottest day of the year, and the mercury topped 37C in a number of other places.
