Staggeringly, meteorologists calculated that Britain was hotter than 98.9 per cent of the Earth's surface. But hottest of all yesterday was Coningsby in Lincolnshire, which recorded 40.3C (104.5F).Īt least 34 parts of the country broke the UK's previous national record of 38.7C, the Met Office said stretching from West Yorkshire to Surrey. Heathrow was first to reach the 40C barrier - breaking the old record of 38.7C (102F) measured in Cambridge in 2019. Temperature records were shattered as sweltering Britons turned to beaches lakes and even fountains in Trafalgar Square in a desperate bid to cool off. Officers and fire chiefs also think deliberate blazes were set on scrubland, trees, fields, rubbish, buildings on a residential street and at a nature reserve during the heatwave since Saturday. This pictures show how the dramatic fire in the village of Wennington engulfed a row of homes as the blaze spread from the grass Wildfires broke out across the UK as families fled for their lives as their homes which they tried to save with buckets of water were engulfed amid blazes across the country in record 40.3C heat - and police are now probing whether some were caused intentionally.įirefighters have described blazes tearing through homes and buildings in London as 'absolute hell' - with residents evacuated after homes were destroyed, two people taken to hospital for smoke inhalation, and 1,600 calls for assistance.Įlsewhere in the country hundreds of fire crews are out battling raging infernos in Wales, Scotland and the rest of England as 'tinderbox' dry conditions in the UK caused wildfires to threaten homes, animals and people and a children's nursery was destroyed along with most of a street in Yorkshire amid police fears some of the fires could have been deliberate.įire services in London, Hertfordshire, Bucks, South Yorkshire, Suffolk and Leicestershire declared major incidents as they were hit with tens of thousands of calls and 'significant fires' meaning automatic fire alarms will not prompt a response and people are asked to refrain from calling unless it's an emergency.