Heatwave: Paris suffers 42.6C hottest day ever as UK temperatures set July record - live

Belgium, Netherlands and Germany join Paris in experiencing their hottest day ever, amid climate crisis concerns and health warnings as Europe swelters

6.37pm BST

That's all from us for this evening. Here's a summary of the day's developments:

Related: All-time temperature records tumble again as heatwave sears Europe

6.06pm BST

Two young adults and a child had to be rescued from the sea off Lincolnshire after drifting away from the shore on inflatables.

Skegness RNLI launched the lifeboat off the town's busy central beach to rescue two people on a small inflatable dingy, some 600 metres from the shore. Once the lifeboat arrived alongside the dinghy the passengers were visibly shaken and suffering from early signs of shock.

This is another serious incident involving inflatables on our stretch of coast, something we've seen rise rapidly in recent months. It's an alarming trend and we're trying hard to reduce this through education and safety messages. Inflatable rings, lilos and dinghies are simply not safe or suitable for use in the sea, even with the best of intentions, the risks are just not worth the consequences - leave them at home.