Temperatures are continuing to soar in parts of England, with Tuesday now becoming the hottest day of the year after 33.6C (92.4F) was recorded in Frittenden, Kent.
The heat is still on course to potentially hit 34C or 35C in the south.
Last month also saw the warmest June on record in England, and second warmest for the UK since the data began being collected in 1884, provisional Met Office figures show.
Tuesday’s temperature now tops the 33.2C recorded in Surrey 10 days ago, pushing it to second spot.
The Midlands will also see above-average temperatures – but there is a stark contrast in conditions for the rest of the UK, where it is forecast to stay cool and cloudy.
It comes as high temperatures continue across Europe, with France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany and the Balkans all experiencing scorching heat in recent days.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has extended amber heat health alerts for much of England into Wednesday morning. The areas covered are: Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London and both south England regions.
The warnings indicate public services like hospitals and transport could be significantly impacted. Meanwhile, the London Ambulance Service has urged people to take extra precautions to deal with the heat.
It can be easy to overheat during hot weather, with the risk of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, which is more serious.
The NHS advises people to wear a hat, wear suncream, drink lots of water and avoid the sun at peak times from 11:00 – 15:00.
A less serious yellow heat health alert is in place for north-west England.
Other temperatures recorded included 33.5C in East Malling, Kent, and 32.2 at Wisley, Surrey.
There has been little heat-related disruption so far – but in the Scottish Highlands and neighbouring Moray, firefighters are tackling moorland wildfires for a fourth day in a row.
The fires came after days of drier weather, but overnight there was heavy rain.
Smoke has been reported as drifting as far as 40 miles (64km) across the Moray Firth, and residents in Orkney say they have smelt smoke.
Tuesday’s temperatures come after a sweltering end to June, with London Heathrow recording a temperature of 33.1C on Monday.
The average temperature across England was 16.9C throughout June, the Met Office said on Tuesday, with the UK seeing 15.2C.
The previous record-breaking June for England was in 2023 when the mean temperature was 16.7C.
It was a very warm night across many parts of the country with temperatures staying in the mid to high teens.
It is likely some parts of East Anglia and south-east England will have had a “tropical night,” which occurs when the temperature does not fall below 20C.
Tuesday night will be more comfortable for sleeping across most areas except the south-east, where it will stay very warm for most of the night.
By Wednesday, the heatwave will be over across the UK with temperatures in the south-east falling to the mid-20s – at levels more typical for the beginning of July.
There will be some heavy showers across the far south-east of England, north-east England and eastern Scotland.
Wimbledon in particular will welcome the respite after the hottest start to the tennis tournament on record with tennis players seen holding ice bags on their heads to keep themselves cool.
This is the second UK heatwave of 2025.
An official heatwave is declared when locations reach a certain temperature for three consecutive days. The thresholds vary from 25C to 28C in different parts of the country.
While this heatwave is a result of a large area of high pressure getting “stuck” over Europe – dubbed a “heat dome” by some – high temperatures are becoming increasingly common in the UK.
Scientists have emphasised the role of climate change in these sizzling summers, saying that heatwaves will likely become more frequent and hotter in the future.
