England has just had its hottest June on record, Met Office data shows

A woman filling a water bottle at a fountain during the red heat alert in London. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

The month of June was the hottest in England on record, driven by a searing heatwave in the final days of the month, which for the first time had red heat alerts for three days, according to Met Office data.

The Met Office said provisional statistics showed Wales and the UK as a whole had recorded their second-warmest June since 1884.