The current scorching temperatures could return in around a week according to longer term forecasts.
Experts have warned that Britain’s buildings and public spaces need to be completely redesigned to deal with regular heatwaves like the current scorcher.
A panel of scientists told a media briefing that “we are not built for 40C” but such high temperatures may become a feature of our summers.
They said hospitals, public transport and open public spaces must be built with more shade and better ventilation to stay open during heatwaves.
Prof Hannah Cloke, natural hazards expert at Reading University, said: We’re going to hopefully see an end to this in a couple of days time but there is a remaining risk of going back up again in a week or so afterwards. That’s pretty concerning.”
“We know that heat waves are killers.
“Last year’s heat wave in the UK killed at least 10 times as many people as the Grenfell fire so I think we have to start thinking about heat waves very differently, perhaps in the same way as we think about house fires or apartments.
"And we need detailed plans and everybody has to know what role they have, and rehearse that part in the operation.
“Severe heat waves are a problem that’s not going away and they will get worse. So we can no longer tolerate poor design of our buildings and our cities.
“We urgently need to think about things like reducing overheating, shading trees, buildings for cooling, and providing these public cooling spaces because we’re not built for 40C.”
Deaths linked to heat, particularly from heart problems, start to increase significantly in Britain when temperatures go above 25C.
Government emergency response documents say women, over-75s and people who live alone are at greater risk.
Experts say we must “blue or green” our cities with tree shades areas and water fountains because such extreme heatwaves are around 1,000 times more likely globally than 100 years ago.
Dr Eunice Lo, climate scientist at Bristol University, said: “It’s not only the most vulnerable people who are at risk of health impacts from hate right now. it’s even the fit and healthy people who will be at risk.
“Everyone is at risk and we do need to be aware and take precautions and definitely not behave like it’s a normal sunny day to go out and have fun.”
The UK has temperature records going back to 1884 but the 10 hottest years have all come since 2002.
Prof Nigel Arnell, climate scientist at Reading University, said: “Most of the infrastructure we’ve got will still be here in 40 years.
“There’s a big job in retrofitting our infrastructure to acceptable levels of performance.
“It’s okay to have train lines closed perhaps once a year, but what happens if it is closed every July for 30 days?”
