Nintendo has issued a warning to gamers over the use of one of its most popular consoles.

As the heatwave in England continues, makers of the Nintendo Switch, a hand-held electronic video game owned by hundreds of thousands of children in the UK, has issued some guidance about playing it in the hot weather.

In a tweet, in Japanese, from its main customer services account the manufacturers of the portable games console are warning owners not to let their Switch overheat.

The translated tweet reads: "If you use the Nintendo Switch in a hot place, the temperature of the main unit may become high. Please use in the place of 5 to 35C."

Temperatures in England have surpassed 30C on a number of days this week - with the heatwave now not expected to peak until either next Monday or Tuesday.

Forecasts for next week suggest the mercury could move into the mid 30s with the hottest days in this prolonged dry spell still yet to come.

The Switch is made up of a console unit, a docking station and two small controllers.

Nintendo has also issued some additional advice to its customers about how to help prevent the video game from getting too hot - in particular by making sure ports are not blocked and that the console is positioned in such a way that air is allowed to circulate.

It goes on to explain: "Also, if the intake and exhaust ports are blocked, the temperature of the main unit may rise. Make the air around the intake and exhaust ports better."