In Pictures: Scorching day for Britons as heatwave intensifies
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Scorching conditions continue to blight the landscape, with leisure activities impacted by the hot temperatures – while elsewhere emergency measures were taken to protect river life.
Sunrise brought with it the first of four forecast days of amber alert conditions, with reservoirs across the UK already severely depleted and some rivers dwindling in size.
Conditions for football were hardly ideal with a dusty, almost lunar landscape replacing the usual verdant conditions for players at London’s Hackney Marshes.
The conditions present a clear and present danger to some wildlife, and moves were afoot to protect those species threatened by the dried-up river habitats.
At the River Mole in Dorking, measures were taken to remove creatures from increasingly sparse pools.
Crayfish and pike were among the wildlife moved to areas less parched of water.
Not everyone was deterred from having fun, with some acrobatics of a gymnastic kind laid on by a trampolinist at Parliament Square.
Others took to the water in the capital with the River Lea the perfect place for some aquatic unicorn antics for some children, while the canal at Paddington Basin was a big draw for people interested in zorbing.
