Armed Forces Personnel Take On The Hottest Day Of The Year

The UK experienced its second hottest day ever on Thursday, with temperatures soaring up to 38.1C. 

With temperatures on a par with Kabul, military personnel have been taking special measures to cope with the extreme heat.

At Horse Guards Parade, hydration was a vital part of preparations for guard duties. 

Garrison Sergeant Major Verne Stokes said: "Hydration is absolutely key but there's no point hydrating the morning of, hydration is a two or three-day cycle.

"We launched a study about the causes for why people faint and understood that salt intake is absolutely important for maintaining fluids, so we now build that into our programme before any big state ceremony or high profile event.

"We need our soldiers to be alert, they are not just there on ceremonial duties, they are there in support of the police... they can't do that if they are tired or feeling the effects of heat."

Several changes were made to ensure the soldiers stayed safe, including bringing the Changing of the Guard forward an hour to 10am, to avoid the midday sun and more water patrols.

Special measures were also put in place for the horses.

"We add electrolytes into their food, to give them the salt and hydration to operate in this very warm weather," said Garrison Sergeant Major Stokes.

"When the horses are on duty at the front at Whitehall, normally they are there for an hour, so we reduced that down to half an hour. 

"Also, when they come into the stables, we take their kit off and wet them down."

Watch: at RAF Benson, the hottest-ever July day did not stop the Pumas from flying

At 3pm, RAF Benson saw an all-time high temperature of 37C.

High temperatures in the UK are not usually a problem but can cause the tarmac on the runway to melt, so all aspects of the climate had to be closely monitored.

Keeping a close eye on the increasing heat was RAF Benson’s team from the Met Office.

Meteorologist Kirsty Burgess said this in an "exceptionally hot weather": "We're seeing a lot of warm air coming up from the south, this is incredibly unusual."