Burnham to chair Cobra meeting on extreme heat as temperatures surge again

Prime Minister Andy Burnham will chair a meeting of the government's emergency Cobra committee on Wednesday to discuss the UK's response to the extreme heat, as temperatures are set to soar again.

A No 10 spokesperson said the government understood firefighters, farmers and NHS staff were all facing challenges connected to the weather.

It comes as the record for the number of days reaching 30C in any year in the UK has been broken, according to the Met Office.

After several locations exceeded 30C on Sunday, there have now been a total of 35 days where the maximum daily temperature has exceeded this threshold - beating the 34 days set in 1995.

This tally is expected to be topped again on Wednesday and Thursday with temperatures peaking in the mid-to-high 30s across the Midlands and south-east of England - and the Met Office has issued a rare amber extreme heat warning , external for Thursday, when 38C is possible.

The Cobra meeting will be attended by ministers from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Home Office, and Department for Health, as well as the Environment Agency.

It will be the second Cobra meeting this year on heatwaves, after one took place amid high temperatures in June.

A spokesperson for No 10 said this summer was proving "challenging" in the UK, particularly for "firefighters tackling wildfires, farmers working in drought conditions, and NHS staff in busy A&E units".