Fresh heatwave warning issued for Shropshire and Mid Wales

Shropshire and Mid Wales has now offically moved up to a level three alert, which warns there is a real risk to the health of vulnerable people including the elderly and babies.

Doctors at the Royal Shrewsbury and Telford's Princess Royal hospitals say there has been an increase in the number of patients going to A&E with symptoms caused by the weather.

And the county's out-of-hours GP service ShropDoc said it had seen a rise in calls from the same period last year.

Meanwhile, bosses at West Midlands Ambulance Service says it is also seeing increased calls, with temperatures expected to reach up to 30C (86F) in some parts of Shropshire today and remain hot through the weekend and into next week.

Yesterday was officially recorded as the hottest day of the year, with temperatures reaching 32C (90F) in Northolt and at Heathrow.

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The Met Office issued the level three alert for Shropshire and Mid Wales, the second highest. It advised people to keep out of the sun between 11am and 3pm.

The hot weather is also affecting wildlife, with a rescue operation underway today to recover fish that are in danger because of falling oxygen levels in the River Teme on the Shropshire border near Leintwardine.

Dr Edwin Borman, medical director at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said: "We have noticed a rise in attendances at our A&E departments. We have seen a number of cases of heatstroke and dehydration though, thankfully, these have mainly been of a minor nature."

Dr Gill Clements, medical director at ShropDoc, said there had been an increase of about 100 calls to the service compared to the same week last year. West Midlands Ambulance service has received about 6,000 emergency calls on each of the last two weekends, a 24 per cent increase.