UK temperature hits 40C for first time on record

British transport secretary Grant Shapps has conceded the UK’s transport network cannot cope with the extreme heat

People enjoy the beach in Folkestone, Kent, during the hot weather.

Temperatures have reached 40C for the first time on record in the UK, with 40.2C provisionally recorded at London Heathrow, the Met Office said.

The threshold was hit at 12.50pm as much of the UK sweltered in a heatwave, with parts of England and Wales under a red warning for extreme heat, posing a danger to life, pressure on the NHS and disruption across transport networks.