The start of this year’s Wimbledon Tennis Championships is set to be the hottest in the tournament’s 147-year history.
Forecasters are expecting temperatures in the capital to rise during the week as the All England Club opens its doors to spectators.
The mercury will soar each day into the high 20s and low 30s, before peaking at a scorching 36C during the start of the grand slam in south-west London.
Monday’s weather is expected to be 7C hotter than the warmest start to The Championships so far on June 25, 2001, when 29.3 (87.4) was recorded at Kew Gardens, the nearest observation site to the stadium.
Such temperatures would also beat the tournament’s record high of 35.7C on July 1, 2015.
It comes as an amber heat health alert is issued for London and other parts of the UK from Friday until Tuesday.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued the alert covering the East Midlands, South East, South West, East of England and London.
The agency has warned that significant impacts are likely across health and social care services, including an increase in demand, during the alert period.
An amber alert was previously issued for all regions in England on June 19, the first time it had been used since September 2023.
On the same day the UK recorded its warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures reaching 32.2C in Kew, west London, before heatwaves were declared across England and Wales.
Wimbledon matches could be suspended, with a “Heat Rule” in operation for players.
It allows a ten minute break to be taken between the second and third set when the heat stress index is at or above 30.1C (86.2F).
Staff are also on standby to treat fans should they begin to suffer in the crowd, with 350 volunteer first-aiders, nurses, paramedics and doctors on site throughout the event.
The city has already seen several prolonged periods of heat over the last few weeks, a pattern the Met Office said was likely to continue.
“There are signs of more widely settled weather during the second half of July, however this signal is very tentative,” the forecaster said.
“Temperatures are expected to be above average for most areas, especially towards the southeast where there will be an ongoing chance of some very warm or hot conditions at times.”
Saturday was the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures rising to 33.2C (91.8F) in the village of Charlwood near London Gatwick Airport.
In London, a heatwave is triggered when a location records at least three consecutive days where the daily maximum temperature meets or exceeds 28C (82F).
