Suffolk Hits 37.3C, New UK June Record

A provisional temperature of 37.3C was recorded at Santon Downham in Suffolk on Friday, setting a new UK record for the hottest June day. The reading surpassed the 36.7C logged the previous day in Merryfield, Somerset, and the previous all-time June mark of 35.6C set in Southampton in 1976.

The Met Office kept its red warning in place until 9pm Friday for London and parts of eastern and southeastern England.

This marked the first time the agency has issued red warnings on three consecutive days. An amber warning covered a wider area through midnight Friday, while yellow thunderstorm warnings applied across much of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Eastern England recorded the highest temperatures on Friday.

Schools and nurseries closed in several areas. A hosepipe ban took effect in Kent. University Hospital Southampton declared a critical incident on Friday and cancelled some planned operations and outpatient appointments.

The London Ambulance Service handled its highest number of life-threatening calls on record on Wednesday, a 50 percent increase from a typical June day, with cardiac arrest incidents rising 30 percent. "To coin a phrase, we’ve thrown the kitchen sink at this week. All non-essential training, non-essential meetings have been cancelled," said London Ambulance Service Chief Executive Jason Killens.

The service deployed clinical staff not normally assigned to frontline duties. The National Energy System Operator warned that electricity supplies could be strained on Friday. Fire crews continued to battle a wildfire affecting about 200 hectares on Tintwistle Moor in Glossop.

Police recovered the body of a teenage boy from Meynell Lake in Syston after he entered the water on Thursday. A 50-year-old man died after entering the sea at Aberavon beach on Wednesday.