Worcester will have extra cooling stations available at Wednesday’s meeting when the course hosts the first afternoon jumps meeting since the current heatwave began.

The abandonment of racing at the Midlands track in 2009 after horses collapsed with heat exhaustion was the first time a meeting in Britain had to be called off owing to high temperatures. Worcester’s clerk of the course, Jeremy Martin, told the Racing Post: “To put it simply, we’ll be having more buckets of water available and more cooling down stations than usual.”

There were problems at Cheltenham this year when the course took the unprecedented decision to call off one of its races after officials concluded the three‑and‑a‑quarter‑mile distance was too extreme on one of the hottest April days on record. The decision followed the death of a runner after crossing the line in the opening race.

Measures to assist runners in the conditions were in evidence at Southwell on Monday after the clerk of the course, Roderick Duncan, announced that “horses won’t be coming into the winner’s enclosure to assist us in cooling them down and to enable ius to get plenty of water to them”.

Temperatures are expected to peak in midweek but the hot weather is forecast to last until into next week with National Hunt fixtures at Cartmel and Uttoxeter also scheduled over the next few days.

The British Horseracing Authority has a detailed list of instructions for tracks, trainers and jockeys with measures to alleviate the effects of hot weather which are sent out when temperatures start to approach 30C.

The BHA will also be releasing a video this week to highlight the work they do to alleviate the risks to horses and riders during heatwaves.