WATCH: gutted buildings, charred fields as UK's hottest day causes multiple fires

UK’s hottest day proved to be a nightmare for Londoners and the city’s emergency services as fire broke out in several places due to record-breaking heat. 

The London Fire Brigade listed 10 major blazes it was fighting across the city, half of them grass fires.

Images showed several houses engulfed in flames as smoke billowed from burning fields in a village on the eastern outskirts of London. 

Large patches of the field were completely blackened and charred

The UK broke an unwelcome record on Tuesday when Heathrow in south-west London recorded 40.2 degrees Celsius on the hottest day ever experienced in the country.

The reading came soon after Surrey in south-east England had broken the record of the highest temperature ever since records began at 39 degrees Celsius. The previous record high temperature was 38.7C, set in 2019 at Cambridge Botanic Garden in eastern England.

The Meteorological (Met) Office said the readings are provisional as the temperatures are expected to soar even further with other regions reporting their readings at different times of the day.

The country was braced for “unprecedented” temperatures on Tuesday after the ongoing heat wave resulted in the hottest night on record at 26 degrees Celsius in parts of London overnight on Monday.

Also watch: Flights briefly suspended at London's Luton Airport after extreme heat melts runway

The Met Office red warning of danger to life from extreme heat remains in place for much of central, northern, and south-east England, including the capital city. At least five people are believed to have drowned after attempting to escape the heat in rivers and lakes.

With AP inputs