UK posts hottest July day on record

Britain has recorded its hottest day on record for July, with the mercury climbing to 36.9 degrees Celsius (98 degrees Fahrenheit) at Heathrow Airport.

The conditions come as the country better known for its often gray and damp conditions prepared for the possibility of record-breaking temperatures later on Thursday.

The previous July record was 36.7 C (98 F) in 2015, while the all-time record is 38.5 C (101 F) recorded back in August, 2003.

Britain's Met Office said records go back to 1865.

The hot weather is causing problems for the National Health Service.

Dr Nick Scriven, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, says staff are struggling since many facilities do not have air conditioning.

Scriven says no lessons were learned from earlier heat waves.

He says that "last year, hospitals hired in large fans and coolers for a week or so but have got nothing long-term in place."
They are, he said, "purely reactive not proactive."