SPECIAL measures were put in place by schools, charities, cafés, and council authorities in response to the heatwave which has seen temperatures climb towards 40C.

With the Met Office issuing its first ever red heat warning for the UK, temperatures of 36C were recorded in Colchester, meaning schools relaxed rules on uniform, Colchester Foodbank announced a two-day closure, and Colchester Council delayed garden waste collections.

The end of term does not come until Thursday for schools across Essex, but headteachers at schools in Harwich and Walton opted to relax rules on school uniform yesterday, with pupils allowed to wear PE kits because of the searing heat.

Plume Academy, in Maldon, closed at 1.20pm yesterday and will do so again today.

Colchester Foodbank, which is the biggest foodbank in Essex and the third largest in the East of England, will not reopen until Wednesday with a spokesman saying the heat of the warehouse can get “very uncomfortable for volunteers".

Nichola Ranson, a supervisor at Colchester Foodbank, said: “I personally would like to thank all of our wonderful volunteers, who day in day out give up their free time to run the food banks.

“We took the decision to close to also keep our valued and very special volunteers safe in the heat.”

To allow staff respite from the heat, Tiptree’s Perrywood Garden Centre shut at noon, whereas normally it would not close until 5pm.

Colchester Zoo also reduced some of the attractions on offer, closing the Kids Safari, the Discovery Den, and face painting station.

The indoor soft play area, Jungle Tumble, shut at 1.30pm and will remained closed today.

Colchester Council took measures to protect its staff by suspending its garden waste collections, asking residents to re-present any garden waste at their next scheduled garden waste collection day.

Although yesterday’s heat caused various businesses to reduce their opening hours, it was not the hottest day recorded in the UK.

Despite that, figures show that nine out of the ten hottest days recorded in the UK have taken place since 1990.

The national record is expected to be broken today.