Temperatures in Britain hit new July record

LONDON - Temperatures in Britain hit an all-time high for July on Wednesday, touching 36.3 degrees Centigrade south of London to edge out the previous record set in 1911, the Met Office said.

The peak came amid an intense heatwave stretching across the country which has melted road surfaces and shut schools.

It was set at Charlwood in Surrey. The previous July high of 36 degrees had been reached in Epsom, also in Surrey.

"I think this is the peak today," a spokesman for the Met Office said.

The average maximum temperature in July is 21 degrees.

Britain has been sweltering since the beginning of this week and officials have urged people to keep cool after some 2,000 people died in a heatwave three years ago.

The Department of Health is asking people to keep an eye on the elderly, young children and those with chronic disease.

People should drink plenty of water, stay out of the sun between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and wear loose-fitting clothes, the government said.

Police in Leicester also warned about swimming in rivers and canals after a 14-year-old boy drowned on Tuesday.

In London, officials were laying on plenty of water for 8,000 guests at a garden party at Buckingham Palace for military veterans after several guests at a similar palace event fainted on Tuesday.

"There is shade for them, all the marquees are used, there's lots of helpers on hand for any guests who may feel unwell," a Palace spokesman said.

Further north, officials at the British Open at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club which starts on Thursday warned smokers to be careful about stubbing out cigarettes on the tinder-dry course.

The Met spokesman said he expected temperatures to cool slightly over the next few days with possible showers at the weekend.

He did not expect temperatures to rise above the all-time British high of 38.5degC recorded at Faversham in Kent, on August 10, 2003.

The Met Office says its research shows a "significant human contribution" in the hot spells of recent years because of carbon dioxide emissions.

- REUTERS