As Britain enters its third heatwave of the summer, a poll for Greenpeace suggests up to two thirds of people are struggling to sleep during unusually warm "tropical" nights. The latest hot spell could push temperatures as high as 35C by the end of the week, with amber heat health alerts in force from Wednesday morning to Saturday evening across southern England, East Anglia and the Midlands. The findings highlight growing concern that homes and infrastructure are ill-equipped to cope with increasingly frequent extreme heat.

The YouGov survey of 2,135 people found that two in three struggled to sleep during June's heatwave, with almost half losing at least three hours of sleep a night. Forecasters say nights on Wednesday and Thursday could stay in the 20s Celsius, qualifying as "tropical nights". Some 86 per cent of respondents said their homes had been too hot, a quarter reported someone in their household feeling physically unwell, and around one in five had cancelled plans because of the heat. More than half said their homes needed retrofit upgrades such as air conditioning.