Britain recorded its hottest day of the year on Thursday, with a provisional temperature of 38.1C at Kew Gardens in west London as a heat dome over Europe brought the summer's fifth heatwave to a peak.
The reading surpassed the previous high of 38C set on 28 June, the Met Office said. The UK and France are both experiencing their fifth heatwave of the year, and temperatures in parts of Europe approached 40C.
An amber extreme heat warning was in place for parts of England until midnight. The heat dome—a large area of high pressure trapping warm air—has kept much of the continent under unusually high temperatures.