The first-ever red weather warning for extreme heat has been issued for Suffolk as sweltering temperatures are expected next week.

An "exceptionally hot spell" is expected to hit the county on Monday and Tuesday, leading to possible widespread impacts on people and infrastructure, according to the Met Office.

The red warning covers part of Haverhill, Mildenhall, Newmarket and Clare, with an amber warning in place for the rest of the county.

According to the Met Office there could be population-wide adverse health effects, not limited to those most vulnerable, due to the extreme heat.

The warning has been made in parallel with the UK Health Security Agency upgrading its previously-issued heat-health alert to the most serious level four.

Level four is reached "when a heatwave is so severe and/or prolonged that its effects extend outside the health and social care system… At this level, illness and death may occur among the fit and healthy, and not just in high-risk groups," it said.

Forecasters have revealed there is a likely chance of the UK's hottest-ever temperature – the 38.7C recorded in Cambridge on 25 July, 2019 – being broken next Tuesday.

Zoe Johnson, meteorologist with East Anglian-based forecasters Weatherquest, said: "Monday and Tuesday are looking like they will be the peak of the heat. There's some very hot air coming to us.

"On Monday it will be widely in the mid-30s, potentially 37C or 38C in the western part of the region.

"However on Tuesday, although it looks like it will be the hottest of the days, will likely be cloudy. But we could see temperatures of up to 40C.

"There's about a 60% chance we will break the UK's record on that day."