The U.K. registered a provisional reading of 40.2 degrees Celsius (104.4 degrees Fahrenheit) at Heathrow Airport, breaking the record set just an hour earlier.
LONDON -- Britain shattered its record for the highest temperature ever registered Tuesday amid a heat wave that has seized swaths of Europe -- and the national weather forecaster predicted it would get hotter still in a country ill-prepared for such extremes.
The nation watched the mercury rise with a combination of horror and fascination. With several hours of intense sunlight ahead, the record could go even higher. London streets saw less traffic, as many heeded advice to stay out of the sun, and trains ran at low speed out of concern rails could buckle, or did not run at all. The British Museum -- which has a glass-roofed atrium -- planned to shut its doors early. And the Supreme Court closed to visitors after a problem with the air conditioning forced it to move hearings online.
"I'm going to my office because it is nice and cool,'' said geologist Tom Elliott, 31, after taking a swim."I'm cycling around instead of taking the Tube.''More News Videos
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