As it happened: Major incident declared in London as fires burn

1. The London Fire Brigade declares a major incident after a number of fires break out in areas around the capital
2. A major blaze in the village of Wennington, in east London, burns fields and sets homes alight
3. The UK records its hottest-ever temperature, with 40.3C recorded in Coningsby in Lincolnshire
4. Over 34 locations exceeded the UK's previous temperature record of 38.7C recorded in Cambridge in July 2019, the Met Office says
5. People in the capital are urged not to have barbeques or bonfires due to the risk of fire
6. The extreme heat is fuelled by climate change which is making heatwaves more intense, frequent and likely, scientists warn
7. Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany are also seeing temperatures soar, while wildfires still threaten parts of southwest France and Spain

Thanks for joining us

We're going to leave our live coverage of the heatwave here for today.

For a full overview of the day's events, read our main story here.

And to see how hot it'll be overnight tonight, check out BBC Weather's latest forecast.

Today's page was written by Adam Durbin, Krystyna Gajda, Laura Gozzi, James Harness, Dulcie Lee, Emily McGarvey, and Marita Moloney. It was edited by Alex Therrien, Emma Owen, Chris Giles and Jeremy Gahagan.

What happened today?

PA Media

Today the UK officially reached 40C – something the Met Office said was "virtually impossible" in an undisrupted climate.

But with human-induced climate change, such extreme temperatures have now become a reality.

Let's take look at the day:

• The UK recorded its hottest-ever recorded temperature of 40.3C in Coningsby in Lincolnshire
• Over 34 locations exceeded the UK's previous temperature record of 38.7C from 2019, according to the Met Office
• Scotland recorded its hottest day with a temperature of 34.8C
• Two more people were confirmed to have died after getting into difficulty in water in separate incidents, bringing the total in recent days to five. Four were teenage boys and a fifth was a man aged 20
• The London Fire Brigade declared a major incident after a number of fires broke out in and around the capital
• A major blaze in the village of Wennington in east London ripped through fields and homes, with the full extent of the damage - and any casualties - yet to be determined
• Hertfordshire and Leicestershire fire services also declared major incidents
• Train travellers were around 40% lower than this time last week, Network Rail said, with many services disrupted by the heat. Some disruption is expected into Wednesday, with customers advised to check before they travel

Get your latest weather forecast here.

Want more? Watch The UK’s Hottest Day, A New Normal? with BBC Weather’s Nick Miller on BBC iPlayer now

Greater London impacted by several serious fires

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Smoke columns rise from the grassland fires in Dartford, Kent

Firefighters have been tackling many fires across the country, including a number in and around the capital, leading to London Fire Brigade declaring a major incident. Some of these include:

• Wennington, east London: 100 firefighters involved in tackling a blaze
• Upminster, east London: 175 firefighters tackled a grass fire on Pea Lane
• Chapel View, Croydon: four fire engines dealt with a grass fire
• Shirley Hills, Croydon: 25 firefighters attended grass fires in the park
• Dartford, Kent: 12 fire engines deployed near the A2
• Wembley, west London: eight fire engines and 60 firefighters tackling a fire
• A line-side fire near the London Euston-Milton Keynes railway caused all services on the line to be suspended

Misleading ‘fear’ map isn’t what it seems

Merlyn Thomas

BBC climate change disinformation specialist

BBC

A Met Office meteorologist has debunked a misleading map which has been gaining traction on social media.

The image above, designed to downplay the heatwave and cast doubt on climate change, spread on groups and accounts including some that post debunked weather conspiracy theories.

But the comparison is misleading. For one thing, the map on the left appears to be an older BBC map which did not use colour zones for temperatures.

However, Met Office maps did include colours, even before a recent redesign, and the image on the right is not from the current heat wave.

Meterologist Aidan McGivern explained that temperature symbols and colour scale were tweaked to make it more accessible to those, like him, who are colourblind.

Mr McGivern says at the time the new colours were designed in autumn 2021, parts of the Middle East and North Africa were above 39C, and he had expected the darker colours to crop up in Spain from time to time.

“I never expected them to be used on UK maps,” he tweeted.

Is 40C going to become normal?

Getty Images

Scientists have long warned that climate change is leading to rising temperatures.

But some have been surprised at how soon 40C has happened in the UK. The Met Office said these temperatures were thought improbable a decade ago.

What does this mean for other long-term predictions, including some that suggest 40C would be happening every 3-4 years by 2100?

Recording a provisional 40C today has made metereologists "sit up and think", the Met Office told BBC News

"But this is still expected to be a fairly rare event," it said.

Currently it's considered around one in every 100 years occurence.

The way that modelling works is that we could have one or even several years of extreme temperatures, but they are still considered unusual in the long-term.

The challenge now is for scientists to understand if this is a very unusual event, or if it will be occuring much more frequently than expected.

Animals rescued from sanctuary as fire burns nearby

Harry Low

Reporting from Dartford

BBC

You can smell it in the air, you can see it in the skyline - and the sweat soaked shirts of the firefighters bear testament to their hard work with 18 fire engines sent to this part of Dartford alone.

It’s swelteringly hot here - temperatures reached 37C - and those warm winds we’ve been experiencing all day have hampered efforts to douse the flames in north Kent.

These heath fires are both a symptom of the heatwave and contributing factor to these unprecedented conditions.

Here at Spirits Rest animal sanctuary they put the call out for help earlier on - and how the community has responded. People rallied round, offering to rescue the animals in danger.

The chickens, rabbits, cats and 12 horses were all helped to safety.

WATCH: Wildfire in Bedfordshire

UK heatwave: wildfires filmed near Bedford

We've been sent this footage of a field fire near Ravensdean in Bedfordshire.

Samuel Kumar filmed as smoke drifted across the road, in front of motorists, not far from the village hall.

Be patient, say Hertfordshire firefighters

PA Media

Drone footage shows of the aftermath of a field fire by Cheshunt Park that started yesterday

Firefighters in Hertfordshire are attending several incidents - a combine harvester fire, a car crash, and several field fires.

The service asks people calling 999 to be patient after a major incident was declared over the volume of calls it is receiving and responding to.

People can help by following heatwave advice and staying safe over the next few hours, it adds.

What's the latest in Wennington?

PA Media

The fire that broke out in Wennington is still burning, and London Fire Brigade are still at the scene this evening.

Residents were evacuated from their homes in the village, with the blaze igniting buildings and fields nearby. Around 100 firefighters have been working to bring it under control.

But the BBC's Nick Johnson, who is in Wennington, says the situation has become more reassuring in the last half hour.

He adds that it appears as if fire crews are starting to pack up and return to their engines after six hours of tackling the blaze.

One firefighter helping to extinguish the blaze described the conditions as "absolute hell".

Fans on the Metro and searching for shade - how Paris is coping

Sophie Williams

BBC News, Paris

EPA

Here in Paris, it’s reached 41C. Walking around the city is incredibly difficult, it almost feels like you're walking through soup.

Most people are opting to take the city’s metro but even then, sitting on the train for more than a few stops is quite hard work - many people have brought fans along with them.

In the capital’s famous Tulleries garden, people have been taking shade under some of the park’s trees, making use of all available seating. Thankfully the water fountains are still working.

Meanwhile at Paris' Gare du Nord station this afternoon, queues of people were seen waiting for trains. There appear to be quite a few delays - although it’s not clear if this is weather related.

A number of passengers have taken to Twitter claiming that they have been stuck on trains outside the station. Many of them say the air conditioning on their train is not working.

I myself am on a Eurostar train to London that was delayed for almost two hours. It's just left the station.

Wennington residents watch fire ravage homes on TV

BBC

Images on TV news shows fire destroy homes in the east London village

We've heard from some Wennington residents who were evacuated due to the fires in their village.

Some have gone to a rescue centre set up in the nearby Premier Inn, including Riminta Maceikaite, 38, and her 13-year-old son Nikas.

Riminta saw the devastation unfold on the TV, watching images shot from a helicopter. She says their neighbours' homes have burnt down, but it appears their home is saved.

"When it shows you from the sky it just freaks you out," says Riminta. "Our house is on the news", says Nikas, "it's the only house that hasn't been burned so far."

Janet Hickey, 70, and her husband Patrick, 71, had to evacuate their home quickly. Janet, who has terminal pancreatic cancer, had to leave all her medicines in the fridge.

"We had to leave everything", says Patrick. "We're hoping against hope that our house is still there."

Are larger wildfires likely in the UK?

Georgina Rannard

BBC News

Reuters

Are the fires breaking out in the UK a sign of what is to come?

Guillermo Rein, Professor of Fire Science at Imperial College London, told me he expects that more powerful wildfires will gradually take place in the UK due to warmer and drier vegetation.

They will be hotter, with larger flames, and will spread faster, he suggests.

"These make wildfires more dangerous to people, homes and the environment," he adds.

The risk in the south and east of England is particularly expected to increase.

To reduce the risk, fire services are asking the public not to light barbecues, campfires or bonfires in the open and to get rid of cigarettes and rubbish, including glass bottles, responsibly.

Greek authorities evacuate residents to the east of Athens

Stephen Ryan

BBC News

BBC

Greek authorities have instructed people in four areas to the east of Athens near Penteli to evacuate due to forest fires.

The 112 emergency service sent mobile phone alerts to people in the areas of Drafi, Anthousa, Dioni and Dasmari to evacuate.

Thick plumes of smoke and smouldering fires are currently visible to the east of Athens.

The fire service says firefighters in the Attica region, which includes Athens, are on general alert.

In 2018, at least 100 people died in a massive wildfire in Mati, 18 miles east of the Greek capital.

BreakingMajor incident declared in Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire Fire Service has declared a major incident.

"The service has received a very high volume of 999 calls, leading to crews attending more than 240 emergency incidents so far today, in part due to the extreme weather.

"These incidents include crop fires, field fires, and road traffic collisions on major roads. Firefighters have continued to work hard in very difficult conditions," it says.

Europe's fierce heatwave reaches north

Paul Kirby

Digital Europe editor

EPA

The ferocious heatwave that has gripped Western Europe has shifted north and temperatures have climbed towards 40C in several areas.

Paris has hit 40C today for only the third time on record. Germany is having its hottest day of the year so far, and the Netherlands has recorded its hottest 19 July ever, with 38.9C in Maastricht. One of the big supermarkets has halted home deliveries.

The forest fires further south are still burning in France, Spain and Portugal, though. A BBC team has visited one of the five campsites that have burned down in the southwestern Gironde region and you can see what little is left.

Heatwave: Surveying the damage after French fires

In Spain, which has seen some of the highest temperatures on the continent, more than 60,000 hectares of land have burned in just a week. A fire also broke out in the dunes at the Belgian coastal resort of De Haan on Tuesday, setting several vehicles alight.

Italian forecasters are warning of temperatures as high as 40 to 42C between Wednesday and Friday. Experts at Italy's IlMeteo say new crevasses are opening up on Alpine peaks and ice is melting even on top of Western Europe's highest mountain, Mont Blanc.

A day of train chaos

PA

Today’s extreme heat has certainly taken its toll on travel, with Network Rail saying today’s passenger train numbers are around 40% lower than this time last week.

There have been severe disruptions with all services to and from London Euston suspended because of a lineside fire caused by overhead electric cables brought down in Harrow.

Similar problems with overhead lines meant trains were trapped on the tracks in Rugby, Birmingham and Carlisle, resulting in the emergency evacuations of passengers.

As we’ve been reporting, there were no rail services into or out of King’s Cross today, and no Thameslink or Great Northern services running north of London.

PA Media

More than 30 locations exceed UK's temperature record, says Met Office

Over 34 locations exceeded the UK's previous temperature record today, the Met Office says in a Tweet.

The national record of 38.7C (101.6F) was topped in places such as Coningsby in Lincolnshire, and Gringley on the Hill, Nottinghamshire.

Rain begins heading in from the west

After the blistering heat, we're starting to see a notable drop off in temperatures for some, following a cold front sweeping in from the west.

Tonight, a band of heavy, showery rain will progress eastwards across Britain, falling as thundery showers in places.

It's still set to be a tropical night in some places, but will feel slightly fresher than last night for many.

Get the latest weather forecast here.

Watch on iPlayer: The UK’s Hottest Day, A New Normal?

With extreme weather becoming increasing normal, what does today mean for the UK?

You can watch The UK’s Hottest Day, A New Normal? with BBC Weather’s Nick Miller on BBC iPlayer now, at bbc.co.uk/iplayer or on the BBC iPlayer app

BBC Weather's Nick Miller explains how temperature records are measured

'Boiling hot and tinder dry'

Zoe Conway

Reporting from Wennington, east London

PA Media

A little earlier we reported that a man was stuck in his house in Wennington, east London and was digging trenches to stop the fire reaching his front door.

We've now heard from his niece that the police have gone in to rescue him.

Elsewhere in the village, a number of residents are worried about their pets, and there's concern for the livestock in a couple of nearby farms.

There's a sense of the village being encircled by flames – it is boiling hot and tinder dry.

But remarkably, villagers are very good-spirited, perhaps because there's a sense they really helped each other out in their moment of need.