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Brits are being warned to take care in the extremely hot weather with the hottest July day ever recorded forecast for later this week.

Meteorologists are predicting temperatures of up to 37C, with records also set to be broken for heat during the night this week.

Forecaster Alex Burkill said: "This is looking like a record-breaking week.

"There’s a strong chance we’ll hit an all-time maximum temperature for July on Thursday, and almost certain we’ll see the hottest day of the year so far."

The mercury is predicted to soar up to 37C on Thursday.

The UK’s record temperature for July was set at Heathrow, west London, on July 1, 2015, when highs of 36.7C were reached.

Mr Burkill said there was a 50% chance Thursday’s scorcher could beat this.

The Met Office also said a high of 32C in the day tomorrow could mean the mercury will not dip below about 25C overnight.

The hottest UK night since records began was 23.9C recorded in Brighton in 1990. The record for London is 23.3C set in 1948.

Luke Miall, Met Office forecaster, said: “25C is a possibility at night this week, most likely tomorrow after a very warm day in London. Cloud coverage is expected in the evening, which will mean the temperatures will potentially stay overnight.”

The sweltering conditions will continue throughout the week in London, with forecasters saying the “feels like” temperature could be as high as 44C.

Temperatures today — the first day of the school holidays for many pupils —were set to reach 25C.

Tomorrow was predicted to be “dry and clear” with top temperatures of 32C, and 34C on Wednesday.

The forecast has caused Public Health England to issued a level 2 warning, which advises older people to not go outside during the hottest times.

People are being advised to drink lots of water, close the curtains to keep rooms cool, not to leave anyone in a closed parked vehicle, and to stay out of the sun between 11am and 3pm.

UK heatwave June 2019 - in pictures 25 show all UK heatwave June 2019 - in pictures 1/25 People enjoy the sunshine and hot weather on Bournemouth Beac PA 2/25 Festival-going sisters Hanna (bottom) and Emma Ahlberg sunbathe in the hot weather on the third day of the Glastonbury Festival PA 3/25 Festival goers in the hot weather on the third day of the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm PA 4/25 Alice Revel, 24, who works at Chilton Manor Farm in Kent, picks cherries, as the farm prepares for its busiest time of the year PA 5/25 People enjoy the sunshine on the beach in Bournemouth PA 6/25 Festival goers in the hot weather on the third day of Glastonbury PA 7/25 23-year-old Lucia, enjoys the cool sea water in the sunshine on the beach in Bournemouth PA 8/25 Women feed pigeons in St James's Park in London PA 9/25 Festival goer Yasmin Hargest in the hot weather at Glastonbury PA 10/25 Festival goers in the hot weather on the third day of the Glastonbury Festival PA 11/25 Swimmers at the Lido in Chipping Norton in Oxfordshir PA 12/25 Festival goers enjoy ice cream in the hot weather at Glastonbury PA 13/25 People putting on sun cream in Hyde Park, London PA 14/25 Revellers use an umbrella to shelter their faces from the sun at Glastonbury AFP/Getty Images 15/25 People enjoy the sunshine and hot weather on Bournemouth Beach PA 16/25 Thousands of people turned up to Bournemouth Beach to enjoy the sunshine PA 17/25 People enjoy the sunshine and hot weather on Bournemouth Beach i PA 18/25 Two paddle boarders enjoy the sunshine and hot weather PA 19/25 Beaches across the UK were jam packed today PA 20/25 Sunbathers lie on deck chairs in Green Park, London PA 21/25 People enjoy the warm weather on the beach in Eastbourne Sussex PA 22/25 A sunbather soaks up the rays in Eastbourne PA 23/25 Sunbathers on Eastbourne beach with the pier in the background PA 24/25 People enjoy the warm weather on the beach in Eastbourne Sussex PA 25/25 People enjoying the hot weather in Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa PA 1/25 People enjoy the sunshine and hot weather on Bournemouth Beac PA 2/25 Festival-going sisters Hanna (bottom) and Emma Ahlberg sunbathe in the hot weather on the third day of the Glastonbury Festival PA 3/25 Festival goers in the hot weather on the third day of the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm PA 4/25 Alice Revel, 24, who works at Chilton Manor Farm in Kent, picks cherries, as the farm prepares for its busiest time of the year PA 5/25 People enjoy the sunshine on the beach in Bournemouth PA 6/25 Festival goers in the hot weather on the third day of Glastonbury PA 7/25 23-year-old Lucia, enjoys the cool sea water in the sunshine on the beach in Bournemouth PA 8/25 Women feed pigeons in St James's Park in London PA 9/25 Festival goer Yasmin Hargest in the hot weather at Glastonbury PA 10/25 Festival goers in the hot weather on the third day of the Glastonbury Festival PA 11/25 Swimmers at the Lido in Chipping Norton in Oxfordshir PA 12/25 Festival goers enjoy ice cream in the hot weather at Glastonbury PA 13/25 People putting on sun cream in Hyde Park, London PA 14/25 Revellers use an umbrella to shelter their faces from the sun at Glastonbury AFP/Getty Images 15/25 People enjoy the sunshine and hot weather on Bournemouth Beach PA 16/25 Thousands of people turned up to Bournemouth Beach to enjoy the sunshine PA 17/25 People enjoy the sunshine and hot weather on Bournemouth Beach i PA 18/25 Two paddle boarders enjoy the sunshine and hot weather PA 19/25 Beaches across the UK were jam packed today PA 20/25 Sunbathers lie on deck chairs in Green Park, London PA 21/25 People enjoy the warm weather on the beach in Eastbourne Sussex PA 22/25 A sunbather soaks up the rays in Eastbourne PA 23/25 Sunbathers on Eastbourne beach with the pier in the background PA 24/25 People enjoy the warm weather on the beach in Eastbourne Sussex PA 25/25 People enjoying the hot weather in Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa PA

The temperatures have been caused by a plume of Saharan air that has already hit parts of southern Europe. More than 1,800 firemen in Portugal were today continuing to battle wildfires in the central Castelo Branco area.

The Portuguese army has been brought in, with bulldozers, planes and helicopters all deployed to help tackle the fires. Eight firefighters and 12 civilians were said to have been hurt in the fires, which remain “active”, according to the country’s interior minister Eduardo Cabrita.

Elsewhere, at least six people have died in sweltering heat in America, where temperatures topped 37C in some areas.

Four people died in Maryland, one in Arizona and another in Arkansas, officials said.

New York mayor Bill de Blasio declared a heat emergency as “feels like” temperatures reached 46C. The warmest day of 2019 so far in the UK was June 29, when 34C was recorded at Heathrow and Northolt.

The highest July temperature ever recorded in Britain is 36.7C, on the first day of the month in 2015, at Heathrow. Looking ahead to the weekend, the Met Office said temperatures would fall. “There’s some uncertainty, though, on just how long the heatwave conditions will last for,” the forecaster said.

“It looks most likely that, at least by Saturday, most areas will see a bit of a drop in temperatures. There’s still a lot of sunshine around for the weekend and temperatures probably look to be not quite as hot, but with a summery feel staying for the weekend.”