The record set in the summer of 1976 has been broken as climate change drives more intense heatwaves.
Wednesday was the UK’s hottest June day on record, with a provisional temperature of 35.7C breaking the previous record from the summer of 1976.
The new high on Wednesday afternoon in Charlwood, Surrey beat the previous top temperature of 35.6C in 1976 and 1957, the Met Office said.
It comes as much of England and Wales swelters in exceptionally hot and humid conditions, which have prompted a rare red warning from the Met Office for extreme heat.
The heatwave, which has led to health warnings, school closures and transport disruption, is driven by a “heat-dome” settling over western Europe that has brought extreme conditions across the continent.
The 50-year-old record has fallen as climate change, mostly the result of burning fossil fuels, is driving increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves, which experts say the UK is not prepared for.
