U.K. has warmest-ever night, braces for record-smashing heat

A huge chunk of England, from London in the south to Manchester and Leeds in the north, is under the country's first warning of “extreme” heat, meaning there is a danger of death even for healthy people

Millions of people in Britain woke from the country's warmest-ever night on July 19 and braced for a day when temperatures are forecast to hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), as a heat wave scorching Europe wallops a country more used to mild weather and rain.

The U.K.'s Met Office weather agency said provisional figures showed the temperature remained above 25 C (77 F) overnight in parts of the country for the first time.

Also read: Europe broils in heat wave that fuels fires in France, Spain

Met Office forecaster Rachel Ayers said Tuesday's highs would be “unprecedented.”

“The temperature will be very hot throughout the day, before rising as high as 40 C, maybe even 41 C in isolated spots across England during the afternoon,” she said.

A huge chunk of England, from London in the south to Manchester and Leeds in the north, is under the country's first warning of “extreme” heat, meaning there is a danger of death even for healthy people, as the hot, dry weather that has scorched mainland Europe for the past week moved north.

The temperature Monday reached 38.1 C (100.6 F) at Santon Downham in eastern England, just shy of the highest-ever temperature recorded in Britain — 38.7 C (101.7 F), a record set in 2019. Tuesday is expected to be hotter.