UK has hottest night on record as temperatures forecast to hit 40C

The sun rises from behind an apartment block in east London. Temperatures overnight did not fall below 25C in some places. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

The UK experienced its hottest night on record as it braces for another unprecedented day on Tuesday, with temperatures predicted to hit 40C in a heatwave exacerbated by climate change.

The Met Office has forecast temperatures to reach as high as 41C in some parts of England, where an extreme heat warning is in place, which would make the country hotter than Jamaica, the Maldives and Barbados.