Norfolk melts as the heatwave continues

Food vendors are closing early and events are being cancelled in Norfolk on what is forecast to be one of the hottest days of the year.

The Met Office is forecasting temperatures of 36C (96F) in parts of the county and an amber extreme heat warning is still in place.

At least 28 schools are closed or will be closing early, according to a list on the county council website.

Friday is Residents Day at Great Yarmouth Racecourse, with proceedings still going ahead - just earlier than planned.

The races will now begin at 10:30 BST, with the last one starting at 13:30 instead of 17:25.

Arena Racing Company, which owns the racecourse, said the fixture would be operated in line with the British Horseracing Authority's hot weather policy.

"Obviously the welfare of horses and participants is the primary focus," a spokesperson said.

Clerk of the course Richard Aldous said there was a lot of extra water, ice, and more staff in the parade ring and in the stables.

"We have four great big fans in the stableyard and we try and use the coolest stables we can for the runners," he said.

Kitchen workers may be used to dealing with high temperatures, but for some businesses in Norwich the sweltering heat is getting too much.

Corrie Cadwallader, the co-director and head chef of a brunch cafe in St John Maddermarket, said his business would be one of the vendors shutting early.

"It is pretty brutal at the minute. We're trying our hardest to keep cool but there are certain circumstances where we can't get away from it."

Jamal Utting, co-director and front-of-house manager, added: "We're prepared for most things, but this extreme level of heat is a bridge too far."

Barclay Gray, who runs a chip shop in the market, plans to shut early and said: "We have been drinking plenty of fluids and try and keep ourselves cool with fans."

Ice cream vendor Emily White, who is on Gaol Hill, said "we may call it a day" if the heat is "unmanageable" by midday.

"The whippy machine gets really hot so we have had a fan on to stop it from going into overdrive," she said.

However, Alan Zhang, who runs a Chinese food business with wife Lisa Wang, said: "We are not worried. How many hot days the whole year round do you have?"

The EPIC North Walsham 5K is one of the events that has been called off.

"It's not just the welfare of the runners, we would have volunteers that would need to be out in it for about an hour at least and a lot of our volunteers are elderly," said director Steve Hitcham

"You've got your elite runners that will push themselves all the way so they could put themselves at risk without knowing and you've got some that will casually do a 5km race so they are not as physically fit, so the sun would affect them more."

The race has been postponed until August.

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