Star Metro - UK suffers as heat breaks new June record

The Met Office weather service told AFP the latest record-breaking June temperature had been clocked in Merryfield in Somerset, after a high earlier in the day of 36.4C in the same county.

Records have tumbled as an increasingly deadly heatwave leaves western Europe sweltering with weather hotter than parts of Africa, throwing up numerous challenges from transport to emergency response.

Prior to Wednesday's UK record June temperature, the high for the month had dated back to the infamously hot summer of 1976, although UK temperature records for other months have been repeatedly broken in recent years.

Earlier Thursday, the Met Office extended a red warning for extreme heat until Friday night for London and the surrounding area.

The red warning of "highly likely" risks to health and infrastructure had previously been in place until midnight Thursday, but now runs to 9:00 pm (2000 GMT) Friday in London and other cities in southeast England including Dover and Oxford.

- Lack of air-conditioning -

At a community cooling centre in West London, Alley, a 45-year-old man with a disability, fanned his face, complaining that outside it was "baking".

Last month when temperatures hit record levels, "I was in hospital because my blood pressure medication stopped working," he said.

"This time around, I've kept more hydrated and I come and I bring my water bottle here."

But he said it was "diabolical" that the government does not ensure public places in cities such as London are "air-conditioned, because it would make things so much better".

The London Ambulance Service said Thursday it had seen its highest-ever number of "life-threatening emergencies" the previous day, which its chief executive Jason Killens said was "driven by the extreme heat".

"Our crews are working very hard in challenging conditions to care for patients," he said in a statement.

"Please help them to help you by taking care of yourself and others -- stay out of the sun and keep hydrated."

- Emergency calls -

As temperatures soared in recent days across the British capital -- home to around 9 million people -- the service said ambulance crews responded to a record 642 Category 1 calls on Wednesday.

Category 1 incidents include the most serious, life-threatening injuries and illnesses, such as cardiac arrests and patients who are not breathing.

In total, it received 7,900 calls and ambulance crews responded to nearly 3,600 patients, according to the service.

"The rise in calls is linked to the hot weather, with crews responding to more people who are fainting, struggling to breathe or experiencing heart problems," London Ambulance Service said in its statement.

At least two hospitals in England have reported critical incidents due to equipment including cooling units and MRI scanners failing in the heat, forcing them to postpone operations and appointments.

"I think it's obvious that our patients are too hot. The staff are really, really hot. And actually, I think these critical incidents have shown us that the machines can't cope as well," said Hilary Williams, clinical vice president at doctors' body the Royal College of Physicians.

She told AFP that medics are "just feeling pretty shocked at the moment, I think, about the extremeness of this heat and the sudden impact".

In the southeastern county of Kent, the local water provider, South East Water, introduced a temporary restriction on people watering gardens on Thursday.

M.Anderson--SMC