Britons are set to melt on the hottest UK day on record as temperatures are predicted to hit 40C amid growing travel chaos.
It comes after the mercury peaked at 38.1C in Santon Downham, Suffolk on Monday, making it the hottest day of the year and the third hottest day on record, after 38.7C in Cambridge in 2019 and 38.5C in Faversham, Kent, in August 2003.
The mercury will sizzle at possible highs of 41C in isolated areas on Tuesday, making the country hotter than Jamaica, the Maldives and Barbados – with rail users warned of delays, cancellations and changes to train services.
Rachel Ayers, a Met Office forecaster, told the PA news agency: “Overnight it’s going to stay very warm so expect a difficult night of sleeping.
“We then have a pretty unprecedented day tomorrow, the temperature will be very hot throughout the day, before rising as high as 40C, maybe even 41C in isolated spots across England during the afternoon.
“This will make it the hottest day on record and the first time we have seen temperatures as high as 40C.”
Scotland and Wales could also see their hottest days on record.
Parallels to the heatwave in 1976 have been making the rounds on social media as people try to quell concerns over links to climate change.
The peak that year was 35.9C. That has already been beaten by the current temperatures and on Tuesday it could go as high as 41C.
The heatwave of 1976 started in June and lasted for two months. There was a lack of rainfall and a significant drought, with the government enforcing water rationing.
The heatwave was rare for that decade. The average maximum temperature in July in the 1970s was 18.7C. In the 2010s, it was more than 20C.
Confronting the issue on the BBC, Ros Atkins has produced a 2-minute explainer on why parallels between then and now do not stack up.
Watch the clip in full below:
Related: Top Bum trends as PM filmed in fighter jet as airports shut due to runways melting