The Met headlines are still just talking about 38C, although the auto is showing 39C (down from 40C earlier today).

The auto output in 2022 was showing 42C at one stage, so I think an all-time record is unlikely. June record is already in the bag though, surely.

For today's max, UKV and ICON go for 30, GFS and Arpege 31C, AIFS only 28C. We've already hit 28.3C at 12 noon today.

I'll echo the garden option, especially if you have a lawn/greenery that helps reduce the temperature and not a UHI paved plot. One of those pump-up beds and it can be a great place at the right time. People sleep on roofs in some parts of the world.  

https://www.preventionweb.net/news/5-lessons-ancient-civilizations-keeping-homes-cool-hot-dry-climates 

I have greenery (fig tree with large green leaves) on my hot south facing red brick office wall. It's notably cooler than last year when the plant was smaller. 

Completely right Nick. My back garden is an (organised and intentional) jungle, full of shrubs, fruit trees, vegetables and flowers, with barely room for lawn. Granted we have different digital thermometers but neighbour's thermometer was reading 28.6 earlier when mine showed 26.5.

The pond might help also.

On a different matter, when the sun is on the house, especially if there's a slight breeze, I hose the windows ad walls up to 3 times during the day. Even with high humidity, the evaporation is enough to cool the south side a little. 

During the 2022 wave I took the wet t-shirt option. It kept me cool all day. Just a couple if top ups from the paddling pool: soak, wring, put on. I did this during work, checking first that it didn't look too bad on Teams.

There a lot of clouds here and mostly polluted skies which not forecasted as supposed to start the sunny weather onward.  Seeing nice high temps on the charts but more concern is the clouds behaviour that will try to ruin it this coming week?  My brother in Letchworth also got the same issue and had rain for few minutes. so not sure where the rain and clouds coming from under this HP.  Getting wary about this coming heatwave if the clouds persist. 

The model soundings (Windy.com is a good place to see them) show very high humidity around 200-500mb today so there is a lot of high cloud and plane trails. It should drop by Tuesday and be a bit clearer although it will still likely be a bit hazy.

Today's 2pm update has Wisley leading the way at 29.6C so I think a 9th 30C of 2026 is pretty well certain. At least another five in a row to come, I think.

Edit: in fact Heathrow was 30.01C at 1.10pm so it's already in the bag.

Reminds me of the knotted hanky trick to keep cool. A thicker wet tee towel placed on one's head does it better. In fact I've got one on right now. I used to wear a sweat head towel in the tropics. Simple yet effective. Cool eh!

It's 29.2 °C in my Mediterranean Garden yet it feels fine in the shade. Water spraying the outside of the south wall sounds like a great idea.

My house is painted white, which helps reflect the sun's rays. The neighbour's house is brick, which obviously absorbs the heat and they know it at night.  Kitchen 21°C as I type.