Heatwave: Weekend events cancelled in south England

The ongoing heatwave has forced the cancellation of weekend events in the south of England.

A carnival parade in Hungerford, Berkshire, and a brewery open day in Silchester, Hampshire, are among those that have been called off.

The Met Office's amber alert will run from Sunday until Tuesday. Temperatures are expected to peak on Tuesday, with highs of 36C (96.8F) forecast.

The UK Health Security Agency has also issued a Level 3 heat-health alert.

It covers the south of England, East Midlands and London.

Hungerford Carnival's committee apologised saying it had "no choice but to try and help keep people safe and not to put any more pressure on our already struggling emergency services".

"It was a decision we didn't take lightly and appreciate all the hard work that had already gone into the preparations," it continued.

"It has also cost us lots of time and money for it to be cancelled and we really didn't want to make the call."

Its fun day will still take place at Priory Road on Saturday.

Wild Weather Brewery in Silchester has called off its open day and the connected Big Day Out run, organised by the Weather Station pub in Reading, is also cancelled.

The brewery was expecting 250 people to attend, and its yard is "a sun trap at the best of times".

"[But] when a level three alert has been issued by the Met Office and the instruction for the elderly and for children is to stay indoors, we cannot in good faith continue as planned with our open day," Jamie Duffield, head brewer and operations director, said.

A few years ago, during a similar heatwave, the brewery used a thermal camera on the tarmac outside and measured 50C (122F), though no event was on at the time.

Elsewhere in the region, there has been a warning about the increased risk of rockfalls along Dorset's Jurassic Coast during the heatwave.

The animals at Cotswold Animal Park in Oxfordshire have also been given ice lollies to help them cope with the rising temperatures.

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