The United Kingdom crushed its record for highest temperature ever recorded Tuesday as a scorching heat wave broiled much of mainland Europe, leading to hundreds of heat-related deaths and fierce wildfires.

The Meteorological Office, U.K.'s weather office, announced a temperature of 40.2 Celsius (104.4 Fahrenheit) was provisionally recorded Tuesday in London. A temperature of 39.1 C (102.4 F) was provisionally recorded earlier in the day in the English village of Charlwood in Surrey.

The previous record high temperature recorded in the U.K. was 38.7 C (101.7 F) in 2019, according to the Met Office.

Tuesday's highs will be "unprecedented," said Met Office forecaster Rachel Ayers, adding temperatures would rise to as high as 104 or 105.8 F in parts of England in the afternoon.