Alarming images have captured the ferocious temperatures in a children's playground amid the ongoing heatwave.
A thermal imaging camera shows a children's slide reaching nearly 72C and tarmac surfacing tipping 56C in sun-soaked Manchester yesterday.
The Met Office 's two weather stations nearest to the city saw record-breaking temperatures on Monday afternoon, with the mercury hitting 34.3C in Rochdale - beating the previous Greater Manchester record of 33.9C.h
And in Rostherne, around one mile from the county's border, temperatures were even higher at 35C.
In an effort to highlight "no-go areas" soaking up the heat, a camera accurate to two degrees showed how dangerous the equipment in play parks could be for children.
BBC Newsnight reporter Yasminara Khan, who used the camera, said: "We went to a local playground. It was deserted. It’s usually full of dog walkers and children playing. It looked as if some had taken the Government advice about staying in.
"The play equipment is hot to the touch. The thermal imaging camera gives the reading in a hot spot in the high 71C.
"It gives a good idea of how playgrounds can become a no-go area, and a sense of where the heat gets trapped, such as tarmac.”
She also recorded temperatures of more than 50C in city centre gardens, alongside 37C in a garage workshop.
And Britons are braced for even more sweltering conditions today, on what is predicted to be the hottest UK day on record as temperatures could hit 40C.
It comes after the mercury peaked at 38.1C in Santon Downham, Suffolk on Monday, making it the hottest day of the year and the third hottest day on record, after 38.7C in Cambridge in 2019 and 38.5C in Faversham, Kent, in August 2003.
The mercury will sizzle at possible highs of 41C in isolated areas today, making the country hotter than Jamaica, the Maldives and Barbados - with rail users warned of delays, cancellations and changes to train services.
Scotland and Wales could also see their hottest days on record.
The Met Office is warning that temperatures overnight into Tuesday are holding up in the low 20s and possible mid-20s in isolated places, and it looks likely to be the warmest night on record in the UK.
Most routes across England and Wales will be affected by the hot weather on Tuesday, according to National Rail, with customers told only to travel if "absolutely necessary".
Network Rail said: "There will be delays, cancellations and last-minute changes to train services due to the unprecedented record heat on those days."
The Met Office also said provisional figures showed the UK experienced the warmest night on record from Monday into Tuesday.
In a tweet, the UK's national weather service announced: "It has provisionally been the warmest night on record in the UK.
"Temperatures didn't fall below 25C in places, exceeding the previous highest daily minimum record of 23.9C, recorded in Brighton on 3rd August 1990."
A graphic accompanying the tweet showed the highest overnight minimum temperatures recorded were 24.5C in Aberporth, west Wales, 25.8C in Kenley, in the London Borough of Croydon, and 25.9C in Emley Moor, near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
