According to Andy Volans, a consultant in Scarborough Hospital's accident and emergency department, there has not been any obvious incidents of people being brought in due to the heatwave sweeping some parts of the country.

But he said more people are being treated as a result of alcohol-related illness. "As soon as it starts to get sunny people relax and drink more," he said. "In hot weather people become easily dehydrated and drink more in the mistaken belief they are rehydrating themselves which of course they're not."

Mr Volans said doctors and nurses in the A&E department had also treated several people for sunburn.

Inside other parts of the hospital, staff have been monitoring temperatures on wards, in corridors and in treatment rooms to ensure it does not get above 26C.

So far Scarborough has seen a high of 24.2C (75.6F) on Wednesday. The evenings have also seen the hottest temperatures so far – on Wednesday the night time temperature reached a sweltering 14.8C.

Parts of southern england have seen temperatures sore to the 30s.

Thunderstorms and rain are expected today, but the sunny weather will not be too far behind. Weather expert, Martin Lowe, said: "The forecast is for a long, warm summer, so I think we can expect more of this."