The authorities' warnings began at 7 p.m. and are scheduled to be rolled out throughout the evening. Residents are urged not to light fires, grill or use fireworks.
According to Sky News, a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London had to be interrupted when many phones in the audience started buzzing, and a live television program was interrupted on the BBC.
Large parts of England and Wales are suffering from drought and very high temperatures, and several fires are raging in the country. On Friday, 19 residential buildings were completely destroyed in fires in Stourbridge outside Birmingham.
"We have 37 fires burning in England and Wales right now. It's going to be a difficult weekend," Prime Minister Andy Burnham said at the scene, according to the BBC.
"The UK is like a powder keg. If you light a fire outside, you are putting other people's homes, and other people's lives, at great risk. So please don't do it," he continued, announcing that disposable barbecues would be temporarily banned.
The Prime Minister also called for greater investment in green energy.
We need to take climate change seriously. There's no point in denying what's happening. We need to address it, we need more renewable energy.
