Norfolk saw its hottest day ever recorded on Monday as temperatures exceeded 37C - but the new record is set to last just 24 hours before being broken again.

The new high was set at Marham, in the west of the county, where the mercury rose to 37.1C.

This smashed the previous high of 36.5C, in the same village, in 2019.

As the heatwave gripped the region throughout the day, it had seemed like the record from three years ago would stand, with Tibenham, in south Norfolk, appearing to be the county's hottest spot, with 36.3C recorded there.

However, at 7pm, experts at Weatherquest received the news that the record had fallen at Marham.

By then, temperatures in Tibenham had also exceeded 37C, but they did not go higher than those seen at Marham.

The new record is expected to last only a day, when temperatures get hotter on Tuesday with highs of up to 41C predicted.

Weatherquest forecaster Zoe Johnson said: "There are predictions of between 40-41C in west Norfolk."

Suffolk also saw its record temperature fall, with 38.2C reported at Santon Downham, near the Norfolk border.

Weatherquest said that was the third hottest day on record in the UK.

Some revellers enjoyed the sunny conditions by visiting parks or having a water fight during the heatwave. While in Wymondham, alpacas cooled off by getting a hose down.

Parts of Norfolk had been issued the first ever red weather warning for extreme heat while the UK Health and Security Agency declared a national emergency last week.

A red weather warning is only put in place when a heatwave is so severe and prolonged that it could impact the UK's health and social care system.

The heatwave led to the closures of several schools in Norfolk on Monday (July 18), including one where the artificial turf in the playground reached 50C. Some sites are to close for a second day on Tuesday.

On Monday afternoon, Anglian Water said that some of its customers in Happisburgh, Lessingham and the surrounding areas had very low water pressure.

The company said that it is due to demand for water being "very high at the moment".

Some schools in west Norfolk were forced to close due to ongoing issues with water supply in their area.

On Monday afternoon, Greater Anglia advised that trains were running at reduced speed on all lines across its network with disruption expected until 2am.

The Met Office was also warning that temperatures overnight into Tuesday would hold up in the low to mid 20s in most of Norfolk, which would mean a 'tropical night' - the term for when it does not drop below 20C.