Met Office extends level-three health watch to cover north-west England, West Midlands and south-west, while police name man and boy who drowned near King's Lynn
A group of graduates cool off by entering 'Appearing Rooms' by Danish artist Jeppe Hein on the Southbank in London.
Despite the promise of some slight respite over the weekend, the UK heatwave shows few signs of abating, with much of England remaining on amber health alert and wildfires breaking out in the valleys of south Wales, the Scottish lowlands and London.
On Friday the Met Office extended its level-three health watch to cover north-west England as well as the West Midlands and the south-west. However, it downgraded London and the south-east from amber alert to yellow.
The amber alert requires social and health workers to focus on the very young, the very old and those with chronic diseases, while yellow merely calls for readiness.
The health alert comes as police named a man and a teenage boy who drowned while swimming at a beauty spot and authorities reiterated warnings about escaping the heat by swimming in open water.
Ryan Pettengell, 41, of King's Lynn, Norfolk, and Umar Balogun, 16, from the Waltham Forest area of east London, died at Bawsey Pits, a disused quarry near King's Lynn, on Tuesday.
Their bodies were recovered from separate lakes following a major search and rescue operation by emergency services, after both had separately been reported getting into difficulties in the water. Postmortem examinations carried out on Thursday confirmed the cause of death for both as drowning.
Since Tuesday five people have died in separate incidents in lakes, rivers and the sea in Norfolk, the Shropshire-north Wales border area, Cornwall and Northern Ireland.
The latest accident happened in the Roe Valley Country Park near Limavady in County Londonderry on Thursday afternoon, when a 15-year-old boy is believed to have drowned after falling into the river Roe.
On Friday afternoon eight fire engines and 60 firefighters were called to a grass fire in Leytonstone, east London. The fire service said the blaze, covering an area of about 200 square metres, was being brought under control. Earlier in the day another grass fire damaged land the size of about three football pitches in Rainham, in the far north-east of the capital.
Reports of dogs being left in cars have also prompted warnings from the police, who stress that leaving a window open is not enough to stop them dying in the heat.
Gemma Plumb, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said there was no sign of temperatures dropping significantly in the coming days.
"The West Midlands, central southern England and the West Country could see maximums of 28-30C [on Friday]," she said.
"On Saturday and Sunday it looks like we will have temperatures of around 28C but by Monday we have temperatures of 29C and 30C again, with an increased risk of getting some showers."
Although some thunderstorms were likely in the west of England and south Wales on Sunday and Monday, she added, they would not necessarily bring temperatures down.
The mercury – which reached 32.2C (90F) on Wednesday – is expected to rise to around 33C next week.
Although forecasters say there is a slim chance temperatures could hit 35C in the south of England on Tuesday or Wednesday, they are not predicting anything to beat the high of 36.5C recorded in Surrey in July 2006.
The Met Office has also warned of an "elevated risk" of fires in the countryside following six consecutive days of high temperatures and a dramatic reduction in the average monthly rainfall.
Crops due for imminent harvest are said to be particularly vulnerable to blazes.
In London firefighters have tackled 37 grass fires since Wednesday afternoon and the number is expected to rise in the coming days.
Dave Brown, of London Fire Brigade, said: "We're attending the highest number of grass fires since 2006 but we are more than able to cope with every incident in London.
"Grass fires can cause a great deal of damage to open spaces and wildlife, and can be avoided by making sure that cigarettes and barbecues are extinguished properly, and that glass bottles are disposed of carefully."
In 2006 there were more than 2,000 grass fires in London in July alone.
Officers were called to Mitcham Common on Thursday when flames burned through grass and gorse in an area the size of four football pitches.
On Wednesday and Thursday there were mountain blazes near Wattsville in south Wales, while around 40 firefighters tackled a grass fire in Tentsmuir forest in north-east Fife, Scotland, on Thursday night.
Health officials have again advised people to stay cool, drink lots of cold fluids and keep an eye on those they know to be at risk, such as the very young, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses.
A four-week-old baby was among 10 children admitted to one hospital in the south-east with sunburn since the heatwave began. The oldest patient was 14, according to the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, West Sussex.
Six of the 10 children admitted needed specialist treatment after being referred to the unit from other hospitals because of the severity of their burns.
On Friday the Met Office extended its level-three health watch to cover north-west England as well as the West Midlands and the south-west. However, it downgraded London and the south-east from amber alert to yellow.
The amber alert requires social and health workers to focus on the very young, the very old and those with chronic diseases, while yellow merely calls for readiness.
The health alert comes as police named a man and a teenage boy who drowned while swimming at a beauty spot and authorities reiterated warnings about escaping the heat by swimming in open water.
Ryan Pettengell, 41, of King's Lynn, Norfolk, and Umar Balogun, 16, from the Waltham Forest area of east London, died at Bawsey Pits, a disused quarry near King's Lynn, on Tuesday.
Their bodies were recovered from separate lakes following a major search and rescue operation by emergency services, after both had separately been reported getting into difficulties in the water. Postmortem examinations carried out on Thursday confirmed the cause of death for both as drowning.
Since Tuesday five people have died in separate incidents in lakes, rivers and the sea in Norfolk, the Shropshire-north Wales border area, Cornwall and Northern Ireland.
The latest accident happened in the Roe Valley Country Park near Limavady in County Londonderry on Thursday afternoon, when a 15-year-old boy is believed to have drowned after falling into the river Roe.
On Friday afternoon eight fire engines and 60 firefighters were called to a grass fire in Leytonstone, east London. The fire service said the blaze, covering an area of about 200 square metres, was being brought under control. Earlier in the day another grass fire damaged land the size of about three football pitches in Rainham, in the far north-east of the capital.
Reports of dogs being left in cars have also prompted warnings from the police, who stress that leaving a window open is not enough to stop them dying in the heat.
Gemma Plumb, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said there was no sign of temperatures dropping significantly in the coming days.
"The West Midlands, central southern England and the West Country could see maximums of 28-30C [on Friday]," she said.
"On Saturday and Sunday it looks like we will have temperatures of around 28C but by Monday we have temperatures of 29C and 30C again, with an increased risk of getting some showers."
Although some thunderstorms were likely in the west of England and south Wales on Sunday and Monday, she added, they would not necessarily bring temperatures down.
The mercury – which reached 32.2C (90F) on Wednesday – is expected to rise to around 33C next week.
Although forecasters say there is a slim chance temperatures could hit 35C in the south of England on Tuesday or Wednesday, they are not predicting anything to beat the high of 36.5C recorded in Surrey in July 2006.
The Met Office has also warned of an "elevated risk" of fires in the countryside following six consecutive days of high temperatures and a dramatic reduction in the average monthly rainfall.
Crops due for imminent harvest are said to be particularly vulnerable to blazes.
In London firefighters have tackled 37 grass fires since Wednesday afternoon and the number is expected to rise in the coming days.
Dave Brown, of London Fire Brigade, said: "We're attending the highest number of grass fires since 2006 but we are more than able to cope with every incident in London.
"Grass fires can cause a great deal of damage to open spaces and wildlife, and can be avoided by making sure that cigarettes and barbecues are extinguished properly, and that glass bottles are disposed of carefully."
In 2006 there were more than 2,000 grass fires in London in July alone.
Officers were called to Mitcham Common on Thursday when flames burned through grass and gorse in an area the size of four football pitches.
On Wednesday and Thursday there were mountain blazes near Wattsville in south Wales, while around 40 firefighters tackled a grass fire in Tentsmuir forest in north-east Fife, Scotland, on Thursday night.
Health officials have again advised people to stay cool, drink lots of cold fluids and keep an eye on those they know to be at risk, such as the very young, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses.
A four-week-old baby was among 10 children admitted to one hospital in the south-east with sunburn since the heatwave began. The oldest patient was 14, according to the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, West Sussex.
Six of the 10 children admitted needed specialist treatment after being referred to the unit from other hospitals because of the severity of their burns.
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