Warning as temperatures reach 31C in East Midlands

The Met Office has advised people to drink lots of fluids, as Kayan the orangutan is here at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire

A heat-health warning has been issued to warn people across the country - including the East Midlands - to take care in the hot weather.

The Met Office has issued an amber heat-health alert for the region, advising people to drink lots of fluids and avoid excess alcohol.

Police have also warned people not to light barbecues in the Peak District.

In Leicester, where school summer holidays have begun, people have been gathering outdoors to enjoy the sun.

People in Leicester have been visiting Victoria Park to enjoy the hot weather

The Met Office said the heat-health warning is likely to stay in place until the weekend.

The warnings are graded from one to four, with one meaning "summer preparedness" and four being "national emergency".

Level three, which is in place for the East Midlands and the South of England, is "heatwave action".

The Met Office has also issued an amber weather warning for "extreme heat" on Sunday for the East Midlands as well as the majority of England.

This warning means "exceptionally high temperatures are possible during Sunday and could lead to widespread impacts on people and infrastructure".

Analysis: BBC East Midlands weather presenter Rich Davis

It is very hot this afternoon with highs of up to 31C and with that comes an upgrade in a heat-health alert from the Met Office.

We are now at level three which means we are in the middle of a heatwave.

How do we get to a heatwave? We need to reach a temperature threshold for a certain region - ours is around 28C - and we need to reach it or go above it for three consecutive days. Yesterday we had temperatures of 29C, today we have got them at 31C, and tomorrow they are likely to be in the high 20Cs too.

There is nothing too scary about heat-health alerts - they are there to tell you to be sensible with the weather conditions and keep hydrated, keep yourself cool and keep sun cream topped up because the UV levels are high.

Severn Trent has also warned people not to swim in its reservoirs as machinery can create dangerous currents.

Ian Drury from Severn Trent said: "These nice bodies of water can look tempting, we understand that but they are not designed for open water swimming. They are operational sites."

The water company has also said due to low April rainfall, some reservoirs are lower than normal.

Ladybower Reservoir's plug hole is currently empty

It said it needs the public's help to save water for example showering instead of bathing, using watering cans rather than hoses, and leaving your lawn alone as it will usually recover rapidly when rain falls again.

In Derbyshire, Buxton Police Safer Neighbourhood Team has warned people about the risk of wild fires in the Peak District after reports of barbecues being lit in the national park over the weekend.

Hathersage outdoor swimming pool, in Derbyshire, said all its sessions are sold out for the rest of the week.

Debbie Shaw, Michelle Severn-Morrell and Angela Alderson (let to right) visited Victoria Park in the sunshine

In Leicester people were enjoying Victoria Park.

Debbie Shaw said she was loving the hot weather and will be filling up the paddling pool later to help keep cool.

Michelle Severn-Morrell said: "It's a great day for doing activities with the family."

Angela Alderson added: "I'm enjoying it really - it is just like being on holiday again."