The UK is facing travel disruption, closed schools and health warnings as the country braces for extreme heat over the next two days with temperatures set to soar into the high 30s in some areas on Monday, while Tuesday is predicted to be even hotter.

The chief executive of the Met Office, Professor Penelope Endersby, confirmed “we may well see the hottest day in the UK in history” on Monday, but Tuesday is expected to be even hotter, with some forecasts estimating highs of 43C (109F), she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

By 12pm, the top recorded temperature was 34.8C (94.6F) in Charlwood in Surrey, according to the Met Office.

Heathrow had reached 34.5C (94.1F), Kew Gardens was 34.4C (93.9F) and St James’s Park in London saw temperatures of 34.3C (93.7F).

Chief meteorologist at the Met Office Paul Davies told Sky News the weather charts he had seen on Monday were “astounding” and unlike any he had observed throughout his 30-year career.

He warned the rise in temperature is “entirely consistent” with climate change and said the “brutality” of the heat could become commonplace by the end of the century.

Mr Davies said temperatures will ease from next Wednesday onwards but warned another heatwave later in summer could not be ruled out.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Kit Malthouse defended the idea that people could still go to the beach. 

He told Sky News: “Some people may wish to.

“It will be cooler at the coast than it is at the centre of the country, particularly in the Midlands and in London.

“But what we are saying to people is that they need to take responsibility for themselves, recognise that this is a really ferocious heat that we haven’t seen in this country before and adapt their behaviour accordingly.”