West Sussex village records hottest temperature during UK heatwave

During the country-wide heatwave, thousands flocked to Sussex's beaches on Saturday. The UK's top temperature of 34.5C was recorded at Herstmonceux in the Wealden district of East Sussex, Wiggonholt in the Horsham district of West Sussex and Frittenden in Kent. The Met Office said: "34.5 °C appears to be our maximum temperature today, with Wiggonholt and Herstmonceux joining Frittenden at the top spot. "After three days of temperatures widely above 30 °C, heatwave conditions are now widespread across E[ast] & S[outh]E[ast] England, with temps remaining high into next week." It comes as HM Coastguard revealed that it dealt with a record high 340 incidents at the coast across the whole of the UK on Saturday. Packed coastlines and beaches kept the Coastguard very busy throughout the day, which saw rescue teams attend 221 incidents. HM Coastguard responded to 186 emergency calls yesterday and coordinated search and rescue responses to a wide-range of incidents, which included people being cut off by the tide and children swept out to sea on inflatables. In total, the service rescued 146 people and assisted a further 371 people. A spokesperson said: "Enjoy your day-out but please remember to #BeBeachSafe and respect the water. Do not make choices which could put yourself and others at risk." Temperatures remain high today (Sunday, August 9), with the mercury looking set to reach 35C. Sussex, Kent and parts of London are the most likely to see the highest temperatures, according to the Met Office. Thunderstorm warnings are in force for large swathes of the UK next week. A Met Office spokesperson said: "Not everywhere will see them, but where they do occur they could be significant and disruptive." A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton: In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers. With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers. Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis. Stay safe, and best wishes.