Johnson Accused Of ‘Checking Out' As Britain Swelters In Searing Heat

PM skips Cobra meeting despite forecast of 41C for parts of England

- Robert Booth, Gwyn Topham, Andrew Gregory, Peter Walker

Airport runways were closed and 999 calls surged as Britain endured some of its highest temperatures, with Boris Johnson accused of being “checked out” after he missed emergency Cobra meetings about the searing heat.

With the Met Office forecasting temperatures to rise again today to a record-breaking 41C in southern and central England , the prime minister attended Farnborough airshow, where he gave a whimsical speech about looping the loop in an RAF Typhoon fighter jet.

Wales was the first to break a record, with its highest temperature of 35.3C provisionally recorded at Gogerddan near Aber yst wyth, a figure passed a couple of hours later when 37.1C was reached in Flintshire. By 4pm, England recorded a high of 38.1C at Santon Downham in Suffolk – just shy of the 38.7C all-time record set in Cambridge in 2019 .

Operations and medical appointments were cancelled because of the heat, NHS leaders said, and a fourth person died after getting into difficulty in the water. The body of a 16-year-old boy was recovered after he got into difficulty in Bray Lake, Berkshire, shortly before 11.45am, when temperatures were already 31C.

A 13-year-old who died on Sunday in a river near Ovingham, Northumberland, was named as Robert Hattersley . A 16-year-old boy died in Salford Quays, Greater Manchester, and a 50-year-old man died in a reservoir near Leeds, both on Saturday.