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It comes after stores faced challenges in last month's heatwave

Marks & Spencer has revealed it will implementing some major changes across its stores in a bid to help manage soaring temperatures.

The news follows on from last month's heatwave, which saw the UK set a June temperature record of 37.7C on Friday, June 26, at Lingwood in Norfolk, east of Norwich. However scorching temperatures left some supermarkets facing issues with their refrigeration systems, with shoppers reporting empty shelves.

At the chain's annual meeting in London, M&S Chief executive Stuart Machin told shareholders that the recent heatwave had caused fridges in some of the chain's foodhalls to break down. In light of this, he said the group will be reviewing its systems and investing in new equipment to deal with temperatures of up to 45C.

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Mr Machin said: "There’s no doubt we were struggling in those nine days of extreme heat.

"Now we’re investing in equipment in our stores to deal with temperatures of 45C. We’re reviewing all our refrigeration as well."

The announcement comes ahead of a third UK heatwave, with the Met Office forecasting temperatures to reach up to 35C in some areas later this week.

In light of the recent heatwaves, experts have suggested temperatures could rise to 45C or even higher in the future. Last year the Met Office also warned there was a 50:50 chance of temperatures soaring to 40C in the next 12 years.

The Met Office announced a "plausible" forecast for a heatwave in June 2056 which showed peaks of 45C in England, with temperatures having hit 40C in the UK in 2022 for the first time on record.