Britain has been hit by record-breaking temperatures as a fierce ‘heat dome’ scorches Europe, with forecasters warning today could be one of the hottest June days ever recorded.
Sunseekers have been snapped descending on beaches across the UK to try and cool off from the soaring temperatures.
Photos show packed out beaches and rammed swimming pools of people frolicking in the water as temperatures are expected to soar to 35C in parts of Britain.
Both Brighton and Bournemouth beaches are experiencing congestion levels that are significantly higher than normal, according to TomTom.
While tennis fans are braving the weather and face sweltering conditions on day one of Wimbledon, with temperatures expected to peak at 34C there.
The Met Office has also confirmed that it is officially the hottest start to Wimbledon on record, with the temperature this morning hitting 29.7C, which surpasses the previous record of 29.3C set on June 25 2001.
Thousands of spectators pitched tents outside the All England Club overnight in a bid to secure tickets, but the tropical temperatures proved too much for some who were forced to abandon their spot in the queue ‘until it was cooler’.
The Met Office has issued an amber heat health alert covering London, the East Midlands, the South East, the South West and the East of England, with the warning set to remain in place until 6pm on Tuesday.
The alert marks the second in two weeks and comes as much of southern and central England continues into a fourth consecutive day of extreme heat.
The UKHSA has also activated a five-day alert amid concerns that there could be ‘a rise in deaths, particularly among those ages 65 and over or with health conditions’.
But Britain is not the only country melting in the June heat, with a ‘heat dome’ currently gripping large swathes of Europe, as countries have had to deploy emergency services to tackle wildfires and hospitals remain on high alert for patients with heat stroke.
Sunseekers arrived en masse to Brighton, East Sussex, where the beach was visibly packed
Photos showed packed out beaches and rammed swimming pools as people try and escape the heat. Pictured: Beach-goers in Brighton
People cooling off in the North Sea at king Edwards Bay in Tynemouth
‘Severe’ risks as 35C UK heatwave could cause hottest day of year today on Bournemouth beach
Three girls swim in the sea in Tynemouth
Sunbathers enjoy the warm weather at king Edwards Bay in Tynemouth today
Sunbathers flocked to the packed beach at the seaside resort of Lyme Regis to bask in the scorching hot sunshine
Graphic showing traffic congestion at Bournemouth beach over the past week
Graphic showing traffic congestion at Brighton beach over the past week
With the heatwave temperature approaching 34C visitors enjoy the weather at the Essex coastal town of Walton
Beach-goers make sure they wear sunscreen to protect from the scorching temperatures
Sun worshippers bagged themselves an early spot on the beach at Bournemouth, Dorset as temperatures started soaring on what was expected to be the hottest day of the year
People swim in the River Nene in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
Sunseekers enjoy the weather at the Essex coastal town of Walton on the Naze
Spectators use wet towels to cool down at the Wimbledon Championships
A person (R) uses a handheld fan as they attend the Wimbledon Championships
Spectators shelter from the sun on day one
A spectator shelters from the heat on day one of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships
Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece receives treatment during his first round men’s single match against Valentine Royer of France
Spectators wearing strawberry masks pose on the first day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships
Watchers protect themselves from the sun with umbrellas
Umbrellas up around the courts of Wimbledon today as temperatures rise into the 30s
Spectators in the morning sunshine at Wimbledon
Thousands of ticketless tennis fans queuing in Wimbledon Park in the hot sunshine
Spectators shelter from the sun under an umbrella
Spectators on the hill shelter with fans and umbrellas to shelter from the sun on day one of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships
A woman protects her arms and face from the sun as she sits in the crowd
A TV camera operator shelters from the sun
Ons Jabeur of Tunisia get medical assistance during her match against Varvara Gracheva of France at the first round singles match
Spectators shelter from the sun under a Wimbledon Umbrella
A woman stands in a sprinkler in Parliament Square, in London
Tennis fans lay down and rest as they queue for tickets on the first day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships
Visitors use a fan to stay cool at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London
Tennis fans soak up the sun on the hill at Wimbledon
Fans come prepared with fans to help manage the heat
Spectators use umbrellas to protect from the sun
Tennis fans protect themselves from the sun as they queue for tickets
Britain’s Oliver Crawford during his first round match against Italy’s Mattia Bellucci
A second amber heat health alert in two weeks came into force on Friday.
The alert, which covers London, the East Midlands, the South East, the South West and the East of England, will last until 6pm on Tuesday.
A weather map shows that London and the southeast will experience the highest figures, with 31C expected in the Midlands and 28C in the northwest and west of the country.
The toasty temperatures will threaten the UK’s June record of 35.6C – set in the famously hot summer of 1976.
Some fans have already been forced to abandon the queue the for Centre Court because of the heat, saying they will come back when it is cooler
Emma Raducanu today leads the biggest contingent of British tennis stars to storm Wimbledon in over 40 years.
The UK No 1 is spearheading the nation’s hopes alongside Katie Boulter and Cameron Norrie, while UK men’s top seed Jack Draper kicks off his campaign tomorrow.
It is a bumper year for Britons with an army of 23 players taking over SW19 – the most to get through since 1984.
Tennis fans dressed as Sweden’s tennis player Bjorn Borg (L) and US tennis player John McEnroe (R)
Tennis fans queue for tickets on the first day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships
Fans struggle under the rising temperatures in the Wimbledon queue
Wimbledon fans donning strawberry hats hoping to get tickets this morning
Spectators wait in the baking sun in Wimbledon Park
People sunbath as temperatures rise in Wimbledon Park
George Sandhu, Deputy Superintendent at Well Pharmacy, is urging elderly and vulnerable Brits to consider staying in the shade or indoors during the hottest hours of the day.
He said: ‘While many people will be out enjoying the warm weather, elderly and vulnerable Brits who are at greater risk because they can have less control over their exposure to the sun.
‘Overexposure to the sun can lead to people becoming seriously unwell through overheating, dehydration, heat exhaustion and heatstroke.’
One group of six best friends from the US are set for another two or three hours in the queue after joining at 7am and flying eight and a half hours to the UK.
Lydia told MailOnline: ‘We’ve flew eight and a half hours from Florida yesterday, some of us are from New Jersey and Texas as well. We can’t wait for the games and we are rooting for Coco Gauff.’
Jennie added: ‘We’re want to attended for the next three days so we will be queuing up every day.
‘We’re from Florida, so the heat is fine for us, but we were not expecting this in England. We have our umbrellas for shade and plenty booze and card games. We’ve already had three bottles of bubbly so far this morning!’
Elsewhere in the UK, footage from Highland and Moray, in the Scottish Highlands, showed wildfires and smoke obscuring the landscape as fire crews battle blaze that has been burning since Saturday morning.
The blazes, which have been whipped up by strong winds and dry weather, have stretched several miles in places – and even sparked warnings for communities as far away as Forres and Elgin to keep windows shut.
A gamekeeper tacking a wildfire. Gamekeepers who have helped battling wildfires have warned such blazes are ‘becoming a danger to human life’
A gamekeeper using a leafblower at a wildfire in Scotland
Footage from Highland and Moray, in the Scottish Highlands, shows wildfires and smoke obscuring the landscape
Video and pictures show wildfires that have been blazing across Scotland for three days amid a heatwave
One group of six best friends from the US are set for another two or three hours in the queue after joining at 7am and flying eight and a half hours to the UK Pictured: Laurie, Jennie, Amy, Sandra, Lydia and Lindy
A few people try and find shelter from the heat under umbrellas
People queue at the entrance on the first day of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships
Spectators arrive to form a long queue Wimbledon Tennis Championships
Maria and her family in the overnight queue on day one of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships
People queue at the entrance on the first day of the Wimbledon
A spectator in the overnight on day one of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London
A view of the Wimbledon Queue of tents
Much of England will enter a fourth day of a heatwave, forecast to be hotter than holiday spots in Barbados, Jamaica and Mexico
People sleeping in the queue at Wimbledon ahead of day 1
The clean up operation begins at the end of the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm
Litter pickers collect rubbish from the field of the Pyramid Stage at the end of the Glastonbury
Glastonbury clean up this morning as the sun starts to creep through
The catering area covered in litter ahead of the clean up operation at the end of the Glastonbury Festival
A second amber heat health alert in two weeks came into force on Friday
People enter the queue at Wimbledon park
A man brushes his teeth this morning ahead of the queue opening
A man sleeps in Wimbledon park to try and get tickets into the grounds today
Tennis fans were given a shock this morning after being told to stay away from Wimbledon as it is already ‘at capacity’.
Earl’s Court tube station, a popular changeover point en route to Wimbledon, was packed with tennis fans who had flown in from all over the world.
But an announcement over the PA system quickly put a dampener on the excitement after it was revealed the grounds were already ‘at capacity’ before 9am.
Those who had opted for a slightly later lie-in faced disappointment then when they were told that non-ticket holders risk not getting in, or at best ‘several hours’ waiting in the queue with temperatures soaring for the rest of the day.
An update from Wimbledon’s official website on Monday read: ‘Please be aware that the Queue for Day 1 – Monday 30th June – is very busy and to avoid disappointment we strongly advise you not to travel to the Grounds today.’
On Sunday, firefighters mobilised in several European nations to tackle blazes as southern Europeans sought shelter from punishing temperatures of a heatwave that is set to intensify in the coming days.
Fires broke out in France and Turkey Sunday, with other countries already on alert.
Authorities from Spain to Portugal, Italy and France urged people to seek shelter and protect the most vulnerable from the summer’s first major heatwave.
Ambulances stood on standby near tourist hotspots as experts warned that such heatwaves, intensified by climate change, would become more frequent.
In Turkey, forest fires broke out Sunday afternoon in the western Izmir province, fed by strong winds, local media reported.
In France, meanwhile, wildfires broke out in the Corbieres area of Aude in the southwest, where temperatures topped 40C, forcing the evacuation of a campsite and abbey as a precaution.
The country’s weather service Meteo France put a record 84 out of its 101 regional departments on an orange heatwave alert – the second-highest – for Monday.
Spain’s weather service AEMET said temperatures in Extremadura and Andalusia, in the south and southwest, had reached up to 44C Sunday and issued a special warning amid the heatwave.
Several areas in the southern half of Portugal, including Lisbon, are under a red warning until Monday night, said the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA).
A woman cools off her dogs in front of a large fan at a London Underground station
A woman cools off in front of a large fan at a London Underground station
People enjoy the hot weather as they swim at Peterborough Lido in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
A heat bomb has hit Europe with Spain’s national weather agency issuing a special warning
Temperatures are set to be higher than 34C tomorrow. This has only occurred three times in June since 1960
Two-thirds of Portugal was also on high alert Sunday for extreme heat and forest fires – as was the Italian island of Sicily, where firefighters tackled 15 blazes Saturday.
In Italy, 21 cities were on high alert for extreme heat, including Milan, Naples, Venice, Florence and Rome.
‘We were supposed to be visiting the Colosseum, but my mum nearly fainted,’ said British tourist Anna Becker, who had travelled to Rome from a ‘muggy, miserable’ Verona.
Hospital emergency departments across Italy have reported an uptick in heatstroke cases, according to Mario Guarino, vice president of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine.
‘We’ve seen around a 10 percent increase, mainly in cities that not only have very high temperatures but also a higher humidity rate. It is mainly elderly people, cancer patients or homeless people, presenting with dehydration, heat stroke, fatigue,’ he said.
In Venice, authorities offered free guided tours for people over 75s in air-conditioned museums and public buildings.
Bologna has set up seven ‘climate shelters’ with air conditioning and drinking water, Florence has called on doctors to flag up the lonely and vulnerable, Ancona is delivering dehumidifiers to the needy, and Rome has offered free access to city swimming pools for those over 70.
In Portugal, several areas in the southern half of the country, including the capital Lisbon, are under a red warning for heat until Monday night, according to the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere.
Bathers spend time in the sun on the beach in Scheveningen, The Hague
A beach in the Netherlands where sunseekers are trying to escape the soaring temperatures
One man sits under an umbrella to protect himself from the sun in the Hague, the Netherlands
A woman uses a hand fan to cool off during the first summer heatwave in Seville, Spain
Women cool off in a public fountain during the first summer heatwave in Seville, Spain
In France, experts warned that the heat was also severely impacting biodiversity.
‘With this stifling heat, the temperature can exceed 40 degrees in some nests,’ said Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of the League for the Protection of Birds.
‘We are taking in birds in difficulty everywhere; our seven care centres are saturated,’ he said.
It is also attracting invasive species, which are thriving in the more tropical climes.
The alert, which covered London, the East Midlands, South East, South West and East of England, will last until 6pm on Tuesday.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) also issued a yellow alert for Yorkshire and Humber and the West Midlands for the same time period, with the agency warning of significant impacts across health and social care services.
An amber alert was previously issued for all regions in England on June 19, the first time it had been used since September 2023.
An official heatwave is recorded when areas reach a certain temperature for three consecutive days, with thresholds varying from 25C to 28C in different parts of the UK.
Your browser does not support iframes.
The intense heat is set to continue across Europe tomorrow with temperatures reaching 37C in France
Your browser does not support iframes.
London Fire Brigade assistant commissioner Thomas Goodall said: ‘London is already facing its second heatwave of the year and we know that people will be looking forward to getting outside to enjoy the wonderful weather.
‘But the high temperatures and low rainfall in recent months means the current risk of wildfires is severe.
‘So far this year, firefighters have responded to around 14 wildfires in the capital.
‘There have also been countless call outs to smaller fires involving grass, trees and in other outdoor spaces, as well as in people’s gardens.
‘During this latest heatwave, it is important everyone acts responsibly to prevent fires from occurring.
‘As the weather has been so dry, it only takes a few sparks to lead to a fire spreading rapidly.
‘In London, this is can be dangerous because so many of our green spaces lie close to homes and other properties.’
There will be a ‘marked difference’ in north-western parts of the UK however, with cloud and heavy rain in parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland, where temperatures will stay in the mid to high teens, Mr Lenhert said.
The hottest ever July 1 on record was in 2015, when the temperature hit 36.7C.