In Pictures: Sunny start to Wimbledon as England enjoys one of hottest June days
Sports fans basked in the sunshine as Wimbledon got under way, with it hottest opening day ever. A temperature of 29.7C was recorded at the nearby Kew Gardens, setting a provisional record for the hottest start to the championships.
At Worthy Farm in Somerset, the clean-up operation got under way following the Glastonbury Festival.
As the final festivalgoers departed with their belongings, volunteers arrived on site to begin clearing away litter and leftover items.
Across Europe, the heatwave continued, pushing countries like Italy, Spain and Greece above 40C.
However, scientists have warned that heatwaves are becoming more frequent with climate change – and hot spells earlier in the summer are particularly dangerous.
In Scotland, firefighters battled wildfires as experts warned that higher temperatures and droughts increase the risk of wildfires.
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Leader Live
3 hours ago
- Leader Live
Wimbledon close to its hottest day ever as temperatures soar past 34C
The temperature reached 34.2C by mid-afternoon, edging closer to the tournament's record high of 35.7C set in 2015. It followed a scorching Monday that provisionally broke the record for the hottest opening day, with 29.7C logged at Kew Gardens. Spectators in the famous Wimbledon queue came prepared – many bringing umbrellas, fans, and wine to cope with the conditions. Some were spotted napping in the early-morning heat, while others used towels and hats to shield themselves from the sun. Even straw hats sold out at the Wimbledon shop by early afternoon as fans scrambled for shade in the scorching heat Anjon Saidy-Khan, 32, told the PA news agency: 'We saw the news – it looks set to be even hotter today so we needed to be prepared. 'If you saw a picture, you'd think it was pouring it down – every other person has a brolly.' Centre Court hosted seven-time champion Novak Djokovic while world number two Coco Gauff was on Court One, both began their campaigns in sweltering sunshine. Among the guests braving the heat in the Royal Box were Cate Blanchett, Rebel Wilson and Russell Crowe – the latter remaining suited and booted despite the weather. Sarah Lancashire wore a white summer dress with a blazer over her shoulders, while Molly-Mae Hague arrived in a camel-coloured shirt dress. On the court, Dan Evans booked his place in the second round with a straight-sets win over fellow Briton Jay Clarke, setting up a potential showdown with Djokovic. But there were early exits for Heather Watson, Francesca Jones, Jodie Burrage, George Loffhagen and Johannus Monday, who was backed by around a dozen friends from his hometown of Cottingham, Yorkshire. One told PA after the match: 'We're so proud of him – he's come here, and done amazingly and done Cottingham proud.' Jack Draper advanced to the second round after Sebastian Baez retired injured midway through their third set on Court One with Draper two sets up. Tuesday's action followed dramatic scenes on Monday when play was paused after a woman fainted in the stands during Carlos Alcaraz's match. The defending champion rushed to help, handing her a bottle of water as medics arrived.
BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
'Grass is playing like clay' - Wimbledon's 'slow' courts
Wimbledon 2025Venue: All England Club Dates: 30 June-13 JulyCoverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. Full coverage guide. Conditions have been tough for the players at Wimbledon, but for some it is not just the high temperatures making things difficult - it is also the grass they are playing of those competing at the Grand Slam this week have said the balls are bouncing differently, while one player said it is like playing on clay - traditionally a much slower has been an especially hot start to the tournament, with Monday setting a record for the warmest opening day when the temperature reached 32.3C, while the mercury rose to 33.4C on women's champion Barbora Krejcikova voiced her thoughts on the surface after battling back to win her opening match against Alexandra Eala."There's not enough water, and it gets really, really yellow, very, very fast," she said."I think with the heat, yes, the grass is more like stopping. The game is just different [to] what you are normally used to." 'This isn't grass anymore' - what have players said? Canadian Denis Shapovalov, the number 27 seed at Wimbledon, was knocked out by Argentina's Mariano Navone in the first was broken six times by his opponent as he suffered his earliest exit at the tournament since 2019."The balls are the worst, the grass tour has turned into a joke," he said after his defeat."This isn't grass anymore, the court is slower than a clay one. It's not even grass."Two-time champion Petra Kvitova said things had changed over the years."I'm not sure if it's only grass," she said after her final appearance at the All England Club ended in a defeat by 10th seed Emma Navarro. "Maybe it's the balls, as well. Overall it's getting slower."Eight top-10 seeded players have exited in the first round - the highest tally at a single Grand Slam event in the Open those to be knocked out was American third seed Jessica Pegula, who said the courts at Wimbledon "felt different" but added: "That's grass – they're all kind of different. It's a living surface, they're not going to play the same."Poland's former world number one Iga Swiatek, who beat Russian Polina Kudermetova 7-5 6-1 in her first-round match, feels the Wimbledon courts are playing slower but expects things to change in the coming days."It [Wimbledon] was slower, and kind of more slippery with the movement," she said. "But also with the heat and everything the ball bounced differently than how it will in the coming days, so I'm not really focusing on that. "With the change of the weather we will have to adjust every day to the different conditions." What is the effect of slower courts? Slower courts lead to longer rallies as players have more time on the ball. It can therefore also lead to longer matches, which can be more physically draining for doubles player Dom Inglot told BBC Sport that courts had been getting slower since 2001. Before that, you would see players hitting serve and volley predominantly rather than the long baseline rallies you more often see believes part of the change is down to Wimbledon wanting to make the courts more aesthetically appealing after years where the courts looked very worn by the second week, while also wanting to deliver a better spectacle for fans."The idea was Wimbledon had to compete with the great rallies you were seeing at the Australian Open, US Open, French Open," he said. "Serve and volley all the time was getting a bit mundane so they wanted more rallies and so there was discussion of do you change balls, do you change the court and I think they went with both."Inglot has been playing with this year's Wimbledon ball on hard courts and has found it is playing differently to last year's, and therefore expects that to be the case on also said the surfaces at different grass tournaments would play differently - including at the Wimbledon qualifying event at Roehampton and Queen's - and so doing well on those surfaces may not translate to doing well at the All England Club. A slower surface means players need to adapt their tactics. "It was ridiculous to think you could hit a kick serve that would jump off the surface like a kick works on clay or hard courts – that was not imaginable 10 years ago, now kick is working," he said."It used to be slice serves and flat serves but now you're using kick serves because you're starting to get the ball moving away from opponents." What type of grass is used at Wimbledon? Wimbledon has not commented on whether this year's courts are slower than in previous years. Since 2001 the Wimbledon grass is comprised of perennial pyegrass, which is said to have the durability and strength to withstand the wear of the modern official website says that during the tournament the height of grass is eight millimetres and is cut every day, while a "little bit of water" is put on the courts overnight.A number of factors affect the speed of a court which include the compacting of the soil over time, as well as the weather before and during the and dry days should make a ball lighter and faster, while cold and damp days would make it seem heavier and soil, it says, largely determines the bounce of ball, not the have been no changes to the specification of the ball since 1995, when there was a very minimal alteration in compression.
South Wales Argus
7 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Wimbledon close to its hottest day ever as temperatures soar past 34C
The temperature reached 34.2C by mid-afternoon, edging closer to the tournament's record high of 35.7C set in 2015. It followed a scorching Monday that provisionally broke the record for the hottest opening day, with 29.7C logged at Kew Gardens. Spectators in the famous Wimbledon queue came prepared – many bringing umbrellas, fans, and wine to cope with the conditions. Spectators in the queue on day two (Mike Egerton/PA) Some were spotted napping in the early-morning heat, while others used towels and hats to shield themselves from the sun. Even straw hats sold out at the Wimbledon shop by early afternoon as fans scrambled for shade in the scorching heat Anjon Saidy-Khan, 32, told the PA news agency: 'We saw the news – it looks set to be even hotter today so we needed to be prepared. 'If you saw a picture, you'd think it was pouring it down – every other person has a brolly.' Centre Court hosted seven-time champion Novak Djokovic while world number two Coco Gauff was on Court One, both began their campaigns in sweltering sunshine. Among the guests braving the heat in the Royal Box were Cate Blanchett, Rebel Wilson and Russell Crowe – the latter remaining suited and booted despite the weather. Russell Crowe with Britney Theriot in the Royal Box (PA) Sarah Lancashire wore a white summer dress with a blazer over her shoulders, while Molly-Mae Hague arrived in a camel-coloured shirt dress. On the court, Dan Evans booked his place in the second round with a straight-sets win over fellow Briton Jay Clarke, setting up a potential showdown with Djokovic. But there were early exits for Heather Watson, Francesca Jones, Jodie Burrage, George Loffhagen and Johannus Monday, who was backed by around a dozen friends from his hometown of Cottingham, Yorkshire. One told PA after the match: 'We're so proud of him – he's come here, and done amazingly and done Cottingham proud.' Jack Draper advanced to the second round after Sebastian Baez retired injured midway through their third set on Court One with Draper two sets up. Tuesday's action followed dramatic scenes on Monday when play was paused after a woman fainted in the stands during Carlos Alcaraz's match. The defending champion rushed to help, handing her a bottle of water as medics arrived.
