UK heatwave live: Hottest June day on record broken again as Met Office extends ‘extreme heat’ red weather warning – UK Times

A new record temperature of 36.7C for June has been recorded at Merryfield in Somerset, the Met Office said.

A critical incident was declared at a NHS trust on Wednesday after the extreme heat caused the MRI scanners to fail.

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust apologised for the “distress” caused by the incident, which saw hundreds of patients’ appointments cancelled.

NNUH chief operating officer Chris Cobb told The Independent: “Due to the hot and humid weather, the cooling systems in our MRI scanners within the hospital building and at the community diagnostic centre failed and a critical incident was declared yesterday. We have worked tirelessly in the last 24 hours to bring some of the scanners back online.

“This morning we have received a mobile unit and we now have working scanners across the trust including the community diagnostic centre, which we are prioritising for inpatients and patients on suspected cancer two week waiting lists.

“We are working to reappoint all previously 362 cancelled outpatients these will be prioritised in order of urgency. Our Emergency Department and those requiring urgent care are not affected.”

London Ambulance Service said it recorded its highest ever number of life-threatening emergencies in its history “driven by the extreme heat” on Wednesday.

It responded to 642 category one calls, which include the most serious, life-threatening injuries and illnesses such as cardiac arrests and patients who are not breathing.

More than 400 extra ambulance crews have been put on the road amid the ongoing heatwave in London, it said earlier.

Chief executive Jason Killens KAM said: “We have seen the highest number of life-threatening emergencies in our history, driven by the extreme heat across London.

“Our crews are working very hard in challenging conditions to care for patients and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our people for their incredible hard work.

“Please help them to help you by taking care of yourself and others – stay out of the sun and keep hydrated.”It was the fifth busiest day in the service’s history, with 7,900 calls in total and ambulance crews responding to nearly 3,600 patients in a single day.”

Plenty of sunshine, though low cloud affecting some North Sea coasts. Hot for most, exceptionally so across southern and central parts of England and Wales. Breezier than Wednesday. Wetter and cloudier for northwest Scotland, with spells of heavy rain.

Rain in the northwest turning thundery. Further thunderstorms with strong gusty winds developing across southwest England during Thursday evening before spreading northeastwards overnight. Warm and humid for all.

Rather cloudy across northern regions with outbreaks of rain and thunderstorms, accompanied by hail and gusty winds. Peak heat transferring to eastern England, with temperatures further west dropping slightly.

Outlook for Saturday to Monday

Still hot in the southeast on Saturday. Fresher conditions gradually arriving from the west during the weekend, but this accompanied by spells of rain and thundery showers. Drier by Monday.

An increase in the number of medical emergencies among people living on the streets has been seen during the heatwave, a charity said.

Ish Camp, regional head of St Mungo’s, said the charity is “absolutely seeing a lot more medical emergencies” amid record-breaking temperatures.

Ms Camp said: “We are absolutely seeing a lot more medical emergencies.“We’ve seen a lot higher incidents of people becoming unwell, people being dehydrated.”

She added: “This is an emergency situation and the priority is keeping people alive.”

The most recent figures, published in April, showed almost 4,000 people were sleeping rough in London in January-March this year.

Anglian Water put 1600 million litres of water into supply on Wednesday – far higher than its typical distribution of 1200 million litres a day.

The increase is roughly equivalent to supplying an extra county the size of Lincolnshire, it said.

Ian Rule, the director of water services for Anglian Water, has urged customers to avoid using hosepipes and use less water wherever they can.

He added that there was no plans to introduce a hosepipe ban this year.

“We recognise that water plays an important part in keeping cool and staying hydrated during the heat, but anywhere you can cut back – for instance, by reusing water from paddling pools to water your garden, taking shorter showers or putting off non-essential tasks like washing the car – will make a significant difference over the coming days.”

Earlier today, South East Water imposed a hosepipe ban on 850,000 of its customers in Kent.