Wimbledon experienced its hottest opening day on record on Monday as temperatures soared to 31.4 degrees by 2pm, smashing the previous record of 29.3 degrees set in 2001.
The Met Office confirmed the milestone, with spokesman Marco Petagna stating: "Records are tumbling off the court as we can confirm this is the hottest start to Wimbledon on record."
Temperatures reached a provisional high of 32 degrees at Heathrow and Kew Gardens in west London on Monday afternoon, with forecasts predicting peaks of 34 degrees.
The extreme heat arrived as the UK Health Security Agency and Met Office issued an amber heat-health alert until Tuesday.
Temperatures have surged to 31.4 degrees
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The hottest temperature ever recorded during the tournament remains 35.7 degrees, reached on 1 July 2015.
The overwhelming demand saw more than 10,000 people joining the queue for day one, prompting the All England Club to advise people to stop travelling to the grounds.
An announcement at Earl's Court station at around 8.50am warned travellers the grounds were already "at capacity".
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Earl's Court station announced the tournament was 'at capacity'
Reuters
Wimbledon's official website issued a stark warning: "Please be aware that the Queue for Day 1 - Monday 30th June - is very busy and to avoid disappointment we strongly advise you not to travel to the Grounds today."
The queue, which offers fans the chance to buy limited Show Court tickets or Grounds tickets, had started forming on Sunday at 2pm - 20 hours before the grounds officially opened.
The tournament has a maximum grounds capacity of 42,000 spectators.
With the extreme heat, players have been provided with ice packs, cold towels and plenty of water to help regulate their temperature during changeovers.
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Britain's Sonay Kartal said after her opening three-set win: "I'm not going to lie, it was pretty hot. I think I made a bit of a rookie mistake not changing clothes at the end of the first set."
Two-time Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur was forced to retire from her opening-round match after becoming unwell, having her blood pressure taken and an ice towel draped around her neck during a medical time-out.
Meanwhile women's world no 1 Aryna Sabalenka was seen applying ice to her forehead due to the conditions.
Spectators attempted to shade themselves with hats, umbrellas and towels, whilst others cooled themselves with hand-held fans.
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Women's world no 1 Aryna Sabalenka was seen applying ice to her forehead amid the conditions
Reuters
The tournament's extreme heat rule, which allows players a 10-minute break, has not yet been enforced despite the record temperatures because Wimbledon measures additional factors to determine heat stress.
The 10-minute breaks are allowed after the second set for all best-of-three set matches, and after the third for all best-of-five set matches, with players permitted to leave the court during the interval.
BBC Weather's senior meteorologist George Goodfellow warned similar conditions are expected on Tuesday, stating it will be "dry, sunny and very hot again, with just a very slight breeze at most."
He added: "The high will likely be similar to today, above 30 degrees. We're going with 33 degrees at Kew Gardens - the nearest observation site to Wimbledon."
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