Drivers must remove their items from their car before the end of today

Motorists are being urged to remove three items from their vehicles by the close of Monday, ahead of the impending heatwave set to commence on Tuesday. This is due to the potentially harmful impact that high summer temperatures can have on your safety whilst driving - for reasons you likely never anticipated.

Next week's forecast from the Met Office predicts temperatures could escalate to a scorching 30C by Friday, July 11, with the mercury gradually rising throughout the week. The weather will start off at a relatively bearable 23C in London on Monday, July 7, before climbing to 25C on Tuesday, then 28C on Wednesday, 29C on Thursday and finally reaching a blistering 30C by Friday, according to the Met Office.

Consequently, drivers are being advised to remove three common items from their cars before the temperature intensifies.

First is bottled water. It’s easy to accidentally leave bottled water in the car after a long day, but as temperatures rise, chemicals from the plastic bottle can leach into the water, making it less safe to drink. In some extreme cases, they can magnify sunlight and could cause a fire inside a car.

The best course of action is to take the bottle out of the car to keep the car safe and the water tasting normal.

Secondly, medicine. It may come as a surprise, but most standard over-the-counter medicines such as paracetamol, Calpol and other painkillers have a maximum temperature at which they remain effective.

If you leave a packet of painkillers in a hot car, they may lose their efficacy or become entirely ineffective, reports the Express. In fact, most commercial painkillers and medicines are only rated up to 25C, which means you could inadvertently exacerbate your symptoms.

Just this week, it was recommended that certain medicines should be stored in the fridge.

Sun cream, alternatively referred to as sun block, sunscreen, or sun tan lotion, can also pose a problem when left in a hot vehicle. It can spoil within the bottle and may even burst due to the pressure from the heat.

It's recommended to treat it as if it were expired sun cream and replace it.

Make sure you have plenty of petrol (or diesel) because fuel runs out faster in a heatwave. You also need to ensure the car has enough water and oil, both of which are vital on hot days, and that your air conditioning gas is topped up.

Other than that, take care and drive carefully in the sunshine, and keep an eye on your engine’s temperature gauge to avoid costly breakdowns in the sun.