England’s quarter-final venue hit by record-breaking heatwave

• Temperatures reach 36.5C in Samara
• Weather similar to that in Nizhny Novgorod

Samara, the venue for England’s World Cup quarter-final, has been hit by a record-breaking heatwave in recent days, and the match is likely to be played in temperatures significantly warmer than those at England’s training base outside St Petersburg.

On Tuesday temperatures here reached 36.5C, breaking a temperature record for the city set in 1954 and causing problems with water pressure. By Thursday the temperature had dropped to around 30C but on Saturday afternoon, when Sweden and England will kick off at 6pm, it is still forecast to be 27-29C.

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