Britain was hammered by thunderstorms last night which set houses on fire after the June temperature record was smashed three days in a row amid a stifling heatwave which shut down parts of the country this week.
Several homes went up in flames following lightning strikes overnight, including two in East Sussex.
Firefighters were called to the blazes in Eastbourne and Bexhill shortly after midnight.
An amber warning for heat remains in place today until 9pm but temperatures are expected to drop, with a maximum of 33C expected in London.
Friday was confirmed by the Met Office as the UK’s hottest June day on record, with a provisional temperature of 37.3C recorded in Santon Downham, Suffolk, surpassing the high of 36.7C recorded in Merryfield, Somerset, on Thursday.
These smashed the long-standing record for June heat, which dates back to the summer of 1976, by more than 1C, which is significant given such records were usually broken only by a fraction of a degree in the past.
The London Ambulance Service said it had its busiest day in its history on Friday, with 8,869 calls which included 688 life-threatening incidents.
Scientists warned that the heatwave would have been virtually impossible 50 years ago, with human-driven climate change fuelling more intense and frequent extreme heat events.
London saw major thunderstorms overnight, with lightning pictured over the city into the early hours
Lightning strikes were also pictured in Sheerness, Kent, overnight into Saturday
People cool off in the River Wey, as kayakers pass by near Guildford on Saturday
An amber heat warning and yellow thunderstorm warning remained in place into Saturday
The Met Office said the third consecutive day of June’s record-breaking temperatures came as parts of the UK were transitioning to more of a westerly influence, bringing the risk of thunderstorms.
And last night dramatic storms were seen across the southeast and in parts of Wales, as watchers filmed frequent lightning strikes and thunder claps in clips uploaded to social media.
A drop in temperatures will develop in the west at first, with these fresher conditions spreading slowly further east over the course of the weekend.
Tragedy struck once more this week after 22-year-old Brody Leach’s body was recovered from the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, this morning.
His body was pulled from the water after entering the river on Friday, West Mercia Police said.
Mr Leach’s death is one in a string of swimming-related deaths that have tragically occurred during the blistering June heatwave.
A 69-year-old man died after getting into difficulty in Clacton-on-Sea on Friday.
Emergency services including an air ambulance rushed to the scene at Marine Parade East at 11.05am, but he was sadly declared dead.
An investigation is also underway after a man’s body was pulled out of Weymouth harbour in Dorset, yesterday.
Coastguard rescue teams, divers and a forensics team were seen in the slipway area while a cordon was put in place after the body was found at 3.52pm.
Horse riders on Wimbledon Common, southwest London brave hot and humid conditions on Saturday morning
Swimmers enjoying the water at Charlton Lido in south-east London on Friday
Tragedy struck once again after 22-year-old Brody Leach’s body was pulled from the River Severn in Shrewsbury this morning
Hayden Jones-Powell, 13, was found dead in a lake in Leicestershire earlier this week
And on Saturday Hampshire police confirmed they had recovered a body in the search for a 15-year-old boy who went missing on Wednesday.
The teenager was reported missing after swimming in Testwood Lakes near Totton.
On Thursday, 13-year-old Hayden Jones-Powell was also pulled from a lake in Syston, Leicestershire, after police divers discovered his body.
And a 50-year-old man was also pronounced dead at Aberavon Beach in south Wales on Wednesday, the first of three consecutive days in which the hottest June day record was broken, after getting into trouble in the water.
An amber warning of extreme heat remains in place from midnight until 9pm on Saturday across the south east of England and East Anglia.
Met Office chief forecaster Andy Page said: ‘The UK is seeing a gradual shift in conditions over the weekend, with those to the southeast of England retaining the warmth the longest, where an amber extreme heat warning remains in force through much of Saturday, though peaks are more likely to be in the low 30s Celsius.’
Western parts of Scotland and much of Northern Ireland will see rain for a time on Saturday, with showers likely spreading further south in places on Sunday, though these will be fairly light in nature.
Those to the south east could remain dry through the weekend, although there is a risk of thunderstorms here before temperatures return more towards average later on Sunday and into Monday.
The Met Office said next week will bring a mixed picture for the UK’s weather, with a combination of cloudy and sunny spells, as well as influxes of rain from the west at times.
Health chiefs warned of the impact the conditions were having on services this week as they face significantly more life-threatening emergency calls.
Hundreds of schools and nurseries have been forced to close and a hosepipe ban was brought in for Kent amid surging demand.
Several hospitals have declared critical incidents, with University Hospital Southampton being forced to cancel a number of planned operations and some outpatient appointments.
Train passengers were urged to avoid non-essential travel across much of England on Friday, with Network Rail saying services operating in the Met Office’s red and amber zones should only be used ‘if absolutely necessary’.
People enjoy the hot weather in Edinburgh on Friday
Children from Grasmere School in Cumbria are taught maths, physics and water safety on Friday
Courts were also affected, with the cells at Bristol Crown Court closed because of the heat and defendants moved to Bristol Magistrates’ Court where it was thought to be cooler.
The heatwave was driven by a ‘heat-dome’ – an area of high pressure that stalls over a region and traps heat – settling over western Europe and bringing extreme conditions across the continent.
This has been compounded by human-driven climate change, mostly caused by burning fossil fuels, which is making such extreme heatwaves more frequent and intense.
This week more than a thousand schools and nurseries closed and a hosepipe ban was brought in for Kent amid surging demand.
Several hospitals declared critical incidents, with University Hospital Southampton being forced to cancel a number of planned operations and some outpatient appointments.
Train passengers were urged to avoid non-essential travel across much of England on Friday, with Network Rail saying services operating in the Met Office’s red and amber zones should only be used ‘if absolutely necessary’.
Major tourist attractions including Stonehenge in Wiltshire, Tower Bridge and the Cutty Sark in London and Marwell Zoo in Hampshire all closed.
