Amber heat-health alerts issued for most of England as temperatures could reach 36C or higher this week – latest updates

The upgraded alerts will be in place from 9am on Tuesday until 6pm on Wednesday

Firefighters are trying to put out a fire on internationally protected heathland in the New Forest National Park in Hampshire, southern England, which is said to have started after a vehicle caught fire on the nearby A31 on Sunday.

“It’s rare heathland which globally is more rare than rainforest with lots of rare species,” a spokesperson for the New Forest National Park Authority said. She added:

We have the highest concentration of lowland heathland in western Europe and it’s internationally protected. It is home to all six UK native reptiles, Dartford warblers, nightjars, insects – it’s devastating.