Praise for punters on hottest day of the year

A yellow heat health alert was issued for the East of England until 09:00 BST on Wednesday

The UK has seen its hottest day of the year so far after a temperature of 34.8C (95F) was recorded in Cambridge.

The Met Office said it was the 11th time since 1961 that temperatures as high as this had been recorded, eight of those have been since 2000.

Despite the temperatures, punters in Cambridge have had a busy day ferrying customers on the River Cam past the Cambridge University campus.

Zoe Smith, the director at the Traditional Punting Company, said staff had made a "valiant effort" and it was nice to see the city so busy.

The Met Office said it was the 11th time since 1961 that temperatures as high as this had been recorded

Ms Smith said staff had worked all day and were making efforts to ensure customers were getting enough shade.

"It has been busy and a valiant effort on the chauffer's part," she said.

"Our punters are working all day today, we haven't slowed down because it is the summer period, but we have more staff on so they can have more breaks.

"They love the outdoors and are well versed in the weather conditions, from the extreme lows of winter to now... but they are definitely being rewarded with a nice cold drink afterwards."

She said it would remain busy until about 20:00 BST, but it was nice to see people choosing to come to Cambridge and punt even though it is a city and not a beach.

Firefighters were thankful for some sweet treats on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service were also thanked by members of the public for their hard work during the hot day.

Two men arrived at the Cambridge station with sweet treats for the crews to enjoy.

A spokesperson from the service said: "What a lovely gesture! These two gentlemen just turned up to Cambridge Fire Station to gift our crews some sweets as a thank you for their hard work in this hot weather.

"Thank you very much for your generosity, we're sure they'll enjoy their sweet treats."