The challenges the NHS faces in winter are well known, but sustained hot weather has also put increasing pressure on health services over the summer months.
South Western Ambulance Service Trust (Swast) typically responds to about 3,200 incidents a day at this time of year. But on one day in June, its busiest day ever, it responded to 4,350 incidents.
That day, the trust received more than 5,200 calls to its 999 control room. Temperatures reached a then-record-breaking June high of 36.7C.
Common conditions linked to prolonged hot weather include falls, breathing difficulties, unconsciousness and fainting.
So what is it like on the frontline? BBC Points West reporter Liz Beacon spent a shift with two paramedics in Somerset to find out.
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During a 10-hour shift on 18 August, paramedics Sophie Denman and Lee Palfrey responded to four incidents.
One was a false alarm. Another saw them waiting until their patient had finished lunch before heading to hospital. One involved taking a man with severe stomach pains to hospital. He had not seen his GP and feared he had cancer.
They also assessed a woman experiencing heart palpitations, but could find nothing wrong with her. They were the second crew called out to this patient in 12 hours.
Both Palfrey and Denman said they really enjoyed the job, but said it could be frustrating and tiring when they attend calls that turn out not to be emergencies.
At one point, the pair were on their way to Minehead Community Hospital to assess an 89-year-old woman who was experiencing heavy, laboured breathing. But before they got there, they were diverted to a care home resident who had hurt her knee in a fall.
After arriving, paramedics had to wait for the woman to finish her lunch before taking her to Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton. The care home said it called 999 because the woman could not stand up and her knee was swelling.
Once an ambulance crew is assigned to a job, it has to see it through, even if more urgent calls are being made.
"The radio was going off and there were several general broadcasts for category one emergencies in the area," said Palfrey.
Examples of category one emergencies include a cardiac arrest, someone who has stopped breathing, or a person who has suffered catastrophic trauma or bleeding.
"We have to switch off to the noise in the background and deal with what we're doing at the time," Palfrey said.
"It can get frustrating if you start to overthink it when you're on duty."
Inside a 10-Hour Summer Paramedic Shift