The ambulance service says it struggled to reach patients suffering "heat related illnesses".

A serious crash which saw a man airlifted to hospital has led to traffic queuing for hours in a heatwave More than 10 people have been taken to hospital for "minor and heat-related conditions" as huge queues of traffic were stranded on the M25 for hours during the red heat alert, following a serious crash on the M25 between a van and lorry. South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb) said it had responded to calls between junctions six and seven on the M25, near Godstone, after a section of the motorway was closed and a man was airlifted to hospital. As Secamb described the congestion as "severe and prolonged", people took to social media to ask emergency services for help. The ambulance service said there had been "a number of calls from people suffering from heat-related illnesses including a number of coach passengers" and confirmed crews had left the scene "after assessing and treating a number of patients of which more than ten were conveyed to hospital". A number of people took to social media to ask for help from the emergency services, including Folkestone and Hythe MP Tony Vaughan. In a post, Vaughan addressed police and highways teams as he said: "Please sort this out urgently. People need water and some may need evacuation. You have protocols for this situation - please implement them - this is an emergency!" He said one constituent had been stuck on the M25 near Oxted for eight hours, adding: "It is 40 degrees in her car. She has kids with her. She is running out of water.