LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The United Kingdom (UK) broke the record for a June temperature for the third day in a row on Friday, the Met Office weather agency said, as a sweltering heatwave strained schools and hospitals and drove down business.

A provisional 37.3C record temperature was chalked up in Santon Downham, a village in Suffolk, in southeast England, the Met Office told AFP, breaking the previous high of 36.9C set earlier Friday.

Before this week, the UK’s 1976 record temperature for June of 35.6C “had stood for 50 years, but — provisionally — it has been exceeded on three consecutive days this week”, said Met Office climate spokesman Grahame Madge.