Record-breaking heatwave pushing hospitals into emergency measures

Unprecedented “summer crisis” leaves ambulances queueing outside hospitals

Hospitals are having to adopt winter-style emergency measures, including turning away patients through being busy, as the NHS struggles to cope with illnesses caused by the heatwave in the UK.

Patients are being treated in corridors, and queues of ambulances are building up outside A&E units in what hospital bosses say are unprecedented scenes for the summerwhich is usually the quietest time of year for the NHS.

Related: Unions say action needed to protect UK workers in heatwave