From transport to zoos: how UK services coped in the sweltering heat

A woman uses her jacket to shade her head on Princess Street in Manchester on the hottest day of the year so far. Photograph: Joel Goodman/The Guardian

Train services have been cut, flights have been grounded and schools closed as temperatures soared into the high 30s in a heatwave stretching across England and Wales.

Temperatures hit 38.1C in Santon Downham, Suffolk, and 37.4C in Kew Gardens, west London, making it the hottest day of the year. Wales recorded its highest ever temperature, with the mercury creeping up to 35.3C.