Do NOT mow your lawn! Homeowners issued with warning as heatwave hits UK - ‘You’ll kill it!’

Asked whether Britons should hold off mowing, author and gardener, Benjamin Pope said: “Ideally, if you can resist it, because by letting your grass grow a little longer it allows it to cope with the heat stress.”

A head gardener in West Sussex, Pope explained: “It creates a little bit of shade which lowers the surface temperature of the soil itself and that will help with the stress.

“It also traps a little bit of air around those leaf blades and that raises the microclimate, the humidity around there, and that stops the transpiration of the leaves which again helps with the heat stress.”

Longer grass in hot weather acts as a micro jungle or rainforest, with taller stems helping to sustain a microclimate at soil level.

Pope, who has written the book ‘What to sow, grow and do: A seasonal garden guide’, advises letting your lawn “grow three or four centimetres higher and mowing it every five or six weeks.”

Taking a leaf out of Pope’s book will allow wildflowers and “what some people call weeds” to thrive, such as “clovers, chamomile or speedwell,” which Pope believes to be beneficial.

Pope explained told BBC Radio 5 Live: “They’re far better at actually coping with drought, you need to water it less and you’ll have a bit more green, but you're also supplying a rich nectar source for all these bugs and bees and pollinators that we all hear is so important for the foundation of our biodiversity.”

Should you be stuck for options of what to do with this new-found time on your hands, Pope encourages the public to “enjoy the summer and have a gin and tonic.”

Lawncare expert and director of turf-growing company Rowlawn, Jonathan Hill, concurs with Pope, telling the Mirror that the worst thing green-fingered Brits can do is mow their lawn in a heatwave.

Hill said: “When temperatures rise, mowing can actually cause stress to a lawn so it’s often best to leave your grass to grow a little longer in these conditions.”

He added: "To avoid scalping the lawn, the cutting height of your mower should be increased during dry conditions.

“A higher setting will allow valuable moisture to be trapped, limiting evaporation and encouraging stronger, deeper roots to grow, which improves drought tolerance overall.

"We often recommend that, during drought or particularly dry conditions, gardeners don't mow their lawns. Survival is more likely in a heatwave if you don't mow at all."

The Met Office has issued multiple thunderstorm warnings as parts of Britain are set to be battered by torrential rain on Monday.

The warnings cover large parts of England including London, Oxford, Nottingham and Manchester.