Temperatures in much of Britain soared more than 30C (86F) yesterday – and possibly even higher today – as the country enjoys its longest continuous spell of high June temperatures since 1995.
However, two people have drowned in the last 48 hours of the heatwave, as crowds headed for beaches, pools and rivers.
A teenager drowned on Monday evening while swimming at Greenbooth reservoir in Rochdale, despite the efforts of his friends who dived repeatedly to try to bring him back to the surface.
At West Wittering beach in West Sussex, the emergency services were called on Monday afternoon when a woman got into distress while swimming. She was dead when she was pulled from the water.
Maximum temperatures yesterday matched Monday’s 32.5C at Hampton Waterworks, west of London, and today it could hit 33C, before the hot spell breaks in thundery downpours in many parts of the south, and fresher weather spreads across the country on Friday.
After a sticky night for much of the south, where the overnight temperature never fell below 19C – “which would more usually be a June daytime temperature”, a Met Office spokeswoman said – many will have envied the touch of frost reported in parts of the Scottish Highlands.
Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the TUC, called on employers to relax workplace dress codes. “Obviously shorts and flip-flops won’t be the right attire for all workers, but no one should be made to suffer unnecessarily in the heat for the sake of appearances,” she said. 
In winter there are legal minimum workplace temperatures, but the TUC is proposing new regulations regarding maximum workplace temperatures
The long run of very hot days and sweltering nights is unusual so early in the summer, but this week’s temperatures are unlikely to topple the hottest June ever – in 1976, when it was 35.6C.