Heatwave: 'My Australian husband thought UK summers were wet'

As the mercury soars in much of the UK, the BBC visits Box End Water Park in landlocked Bedford to ask how people have been coping with the heat - as meteorologists warn of a possible record high temperature for the UK this weekend.

Fatima Teixeira, from Bedford, says she has been making the most of the heatwave while not at work.

"Today is my day off, I just came here for a bit of sunshine, to relax and enjoy the warm weather," she says.

"I am enjoying this as I am off and I want to enjoy it as much as possible, because it's not for long.

"Being near to the water is good enough for me.

"I am from Portugal and I used to be very close to the water, so every time I can I like to do that."

"It's lovely, it's my birthday, and I've brought my daughter and her family, who are over from Australia, so they can have some fun in the water," says fellow sun worshipper Nicky Rattigan.

"It's beautiful weather but it's just at night time it's hard to get to sleep, but I'm not going to complain about the summer weather.

"It's just lovely to be by the waterside."

Amy Champion says she wanted to come back for the British summer, which her Australian husband assumed would be dreary and wet.

"He is thrilled we are having such hot weather," she says.

"It's freezing in Sydney, we are getting big floods so I am feeling a bit guilty with the heat here."

Catherine Turner-Perrott says she has been desperate to find somewhere to cool off and have fun.

"I am here with my two-year-old and she can't go in [the water] so I'm looking enviously at the others," she says.

She is asked whether she enjoys the heat, and she says: "Ask me again at the weekend - at the moment it's bearable, as long as you keep cool and have an ice lolly and some shade.

"But I wouldn't want to be working outside."

Zoe Johnson, a meteorologist at Norwich-based Weatherquest, says the east of England is due to experience two peaks of hot weather in the next few days.

"The heat is expected to build to 28 to 32 degrees inland and similar tomorrow, and Tuesday into Wednesday we will see a weak cold front," she says.

"The key thing is we will get wind from the north-west, so a slightly cooler direction.

"The highs are probably 26 to 28 on Wednesday, 24 to 26 on Thursday and 23 to 26 on Friday.

"We are then keeping our eyes on the weekend because it looks like temperatures will build once again and we get another area of high pressure.

"The peak is Sunday and Monday, and we could get towards the mid 30s.

"There's been a decent signal in the weather computer models; some of them have been hinting at 40 degrees.

"It's not saying that will definitely happen, but there's never been a suggested 40 in the forecast before, so it's particularly unusual."

She adds: "It would not be so warm were it not for climate change.

"We're experiencing longer and more intense heatwaves and it's really important to remember that at times like this."

The Met Office has issued an "extreme heat" warning for Sunday, saying exceptionally high temperatures may occur and lead to adverse health effects, including serious illness or danger to life.

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