A state of emergency has been declared in London after a series of fires broke out in lawns and vegetation on the hottest day ever recorded in the UK.

Mayor Sadiq Khan said the London Fire Brigade (LFB) was under huge pressure and urged citizens to be aware of their safety, adding that the situation was "critical".

Dozens of fire engines and hundreds of firefighters attended to extinguishing at least 10 fires today.

The fire and rescue service of Leicestershire, a county in England, has also declared a state of alarm due to the high number of calls.

"We will not respond to automatic fire alarms.

Please call us only if it is urgent," the fire service announced.

We remind you, today for the first time in history in Great Britain, temperatures have reached 40 degrees Celsius, precisely 40.2 °C.

This temperature was measured at London's Heathrow Airport at 12:50 p.m.

The Met Office has issued a red warning for most of England, from London to York and Manchester.

Due to record temperatures, trains stopped in Britain, some schools were closed and zoos offered their residents giant ice cream cakes.

Britain, which normally struggles to maintain transport services in conditions of extreme heat, extreme cold and snow, declared a national alert after the mercury in thermometers surpassed the previous record of 38.7 degrees in 2019

Homes destroyed in Wennington as multiple fires break out in the Greater London area pic.twitter.com/TKEfbUL5cD

— BNO News (@BNONews) July 19, 2022