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Millions of people in Britain have woken from the country's warmest-ever night and are bracing for a day when temperatures are forecast to hit 40C, as a heat wave scorching Europe wallops a country more used to mild weather and rain.

The UK's Met Office weather agency said provisional figures showed the temperature remained above 25C overnight in parts of the country for the first time.

A huge chunk of England, from London in the south to Manchester and Leeds in the north, is under the country's first warning of "extreme" heat, meaning there is danger of death even for healthy people.

Hot, dry weather has gripped southern Europe since last week, triggering wildfires in Spain, Portugal and France, before moving north.

The temperature Monday reached 38.1C at Santon Downham in eastern England, just shy of the highest-ever temperature recorded in Britain - 38.7C, a record set in 2019. Tuesday is expected to be hotter.

Average July temperatures in the UK range from a daily high of 21C to a night-time low of 12C, and few homes or small businesses have air conditioning.

Many people coped with the heat wave by staying put. Road traffic was down from its usual levels on Monday. Trains ran at low speed out of concern for buckled rails, or did not run at all. London's Kings Cross Station, one of the country's busiest rail hubs, was empty on Tuesday, with no trains on the busy east coast line connecting the capital to the north and Scotland. London's Luton Airport had to close its runway because of heat damage.

At least five people were reported to have drowned across the UK in rivers, lakes and reservoirs while trying to cool off.

Climate experts warn that global warming has increased the frequency of extreme weather events, with studies showing that the likelihood of temperatures in the UK reaching 40C is now 10 times higher than in the pre-industrial era. Drought and heat waves tied to climate change have also made wildfires harder to fight.

The dangers of extreme heat were on display in southern Europe. Almost 600 heat-related deaths have been reported in Spain and Portugal, where temperatures reached 47C last week.

In the Gironde region of southwestern France, ferocious wildfires continued to spread through tinder-dry pines forests, frustrating firefighting efforts by more than 2000 firefighters and water-bombing planes.

More than 37,000 people have been evacuated from homes and summer vacation spots since the fires broke out July 12 and burned through 190 square kilometres of forests and vegetation, Gironde authorities said.

A smaller third fire broke out late on Monday in the Medoc wine region north of Bordeaux, further taxing firefighting resources. Five camping sites went up in flames in the Atlantic coast beach zone where blazes raged, around the Arcachon maritime basin famous for its oysters and resorts.

But weather forecasts offered some consolation, with heat-wave temperatures expected to ease along the Atlantic seaboard on Tuesday and the possibility of rains rolling in late in the day.

© PAA 2022

An emotional Cameron Smith has written his name into Australian sporting folklore with an epic comeback victory at the landmark 150th British Open at St Andrews.

With a remarkable five successive birdies to start the back nine, Smith chased down home hope Rory McIlroy to become the first Australian to claim the famous Claret Jug since Greg Norman at Royal St George's in 1993.

"Ah, geez, what a week. I'm going to fall apart here, I know," Smith said, choking back tears after being handed the coveted trophy.

"All the names on there, every player that's been at the top of their game has won this championship.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool to be on there. It really hasn't sunk in yet. I don't think it will for a few weeks. Yeah, it's just unreal."

Showing nerves of steel, the 28-year-old closed with a record eight-under-par 64 on Sunday to capture his elusive maiden major championship after two near misses at the Masters.

He won by a shot from American Cameron Young, who eagled the last for a 65 to force Smith to hole a clutch two-foot birdie putt to deny the American a four-hole playoff.

McIlroy finished a further stroke back at 18 under following a final-round 70.

"Disappointed obviously," McIlroy said.

"But, look, I got beaten by a better player this week - 20 under par for four rounds of golf around here is really, really impressive playing, especially to go out and shoot 64 today to get it done."

Indeed, Smith's four-round total of 20 under equalled Henrik Stenson's 72-hole Open scoring record and bettered Tiger Woods' record tally at St Andrews in 2000 by a stroke.

"I want to thank my team back there for all their hard work. All the hard work we've done the last couple of years has really started to pay off and this one definitely makes it worth it," Smith said.

"To the fans, I had a lot of support out there - especially the Aussie guys. It seemed like there were a lot out there.

"You guys really kept me going out there. You kept me plugging away - this one's for Oz!"

Smith is Australia's first men's major winner since Jason Day at the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

His magical triumph came after the Queenslander started the final round four strokes behind Northern Ireland's McIlroy and Norway's Viktor Hovland.

In etching his name in the history books after winning golf's oldest and greatest championship, Smith also becomes the first player to complete The Players-British Open double since the legendary Jack Nicklaus in 1978.

He is Australia's fifth winner of the Open after Norman, who also reigned at Turnberry in 1986, Ian Baker Finch (1991), Kel Nagle (1960) and five-times champion Peter Thomson (1954, 1955, 1956, 1958 and 1965).

Nagle and Thomson are the only other Australians to have won the Open on the Old Course at the home of golf.

But not even those two greats completed victory in such grand style.

Smith's finishing 64 is the equal-lowest-ever final round from an Open champion and matched Norman's 64 on the par-71 layout at Sandwich in 1993.

After a luckless third round with the putter, when he surrendered a two-shot halfway lead, Smith promised a Sunday birdie blitz in a desperate bid to reel in McIlroy and Hovland.

He dragged the overnight deficit from four shots back to just one after steadily reaching the turn in two under for his round, then jagged three birdies in a row to open the front nine.

But, so stealthy was his back-nine attack, that it wasn't until Smith drained his fourth straight birdie on No.13 to snatch a share of the lead that McIlroy probably even realised he was being hunted down.

If there was any doubt, though, McIlroy would have known after Smith waved his magic wand once again to two-putt for a 25-metre birdie from off the green on the par-five 14th to seize the outright lead.

While McIlroy, like Smith on Saturday, couldn't buy a putt, the Australian produced a brilliant scrambling par save on the treacherous 17th Road Hole to remain in control.

Not even Young's sublime eagle at the last could then deny Smith, who calmly holed out under unbearable tension to break Australia's 29-year Open title drought.

Smith said he'd next return to golf at the PGA Tour's season-ending FedExCup playoffs.

© AAP 2022

A man who allegedly urinated from the roof of the SCG's O'Reilly Stand has been banned for life from Rugby Australia (RA) events.

The patron was filmed in the act after climbing to the vantage point during the second half of Saturday's Test between Australia and England.

He was arrested and charged by NSW Police with behaving in an offensive manner in/near a public place and climbing on buildings on scheduled lands without approval and issued a two-year ban by the SCG.

RA chief executive Andy Marinos went a step further on Monday though, slamming the patron's behaviour on a night when victorious England coach Eddie Jones was also called a "traitor" by a disgruntled Wallabies fan.

"Rugby Australia is disappointed with the reported incidents within the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground for the Third Test of the Wallabies' series with England," Marinos said.

"The deplorable actions of the alleged intruder that made his way to the roof of the grandstand were disgraceful and dangerous."

Jones, an Australian and former Wallabies coach, fired back at the punter on hearing his slur in a moment caught on camera that went viral.

"The offensive remarks made by spectators in the Members' areas towards England staff were unacceptable - and not representative of the values of rugby," Marinos said.

"We have a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate behaviour, and we are working with Venues NSW on appropriate sanctions for these individuals.

"Rugby prides itself on values of respect and integrity - as seen in the players of both teams after the final whistle of a hard-fought series at the SCG on Saturday night.

"It is our expectation that spectators adhere to these values of respect and integrity when attending rugby matches and, we would hope, in society in general.

"Please, cheer for your team with all that you have. But please, always show respect for others."

© AAP 2022