Britain bakes in record heat

BRITAIN’s heatwave continued apace yesterday with temperatures reaching as high as 34°C (93°F).

Weather forecasters predicted yesterday afternoon that the day could be the hottest July day since 1989.

Temperatures registered so far included 32°C (90°F) in Bristol, 31°C (88°F) at Heathrow Airport, 30°C (86°F) in central London and 32°C at Gatwick.

Forecaster Paul Knightley said temperatures would fall today as more humid and thundery weather moved in from the southwest.

The stormy weather could spread as far as the British Midlands by this evening, he said, but temperatures would still be very warm.

"It won't be as hot tomorrow. It will be more humid though, and probably still fairly uncomfortable, with scattered thunderstorms and showers coming up from the southwest later tonight and tomorrow," Mr Knightley said.

"There will be some really torrential downpours in some places."

The heatwave saw Britain basking in weather equal to that in the Spanish holiday destination the Costa del Sol, where temperatures reached 31°C (88°F) considered moderate for that area at this time of year.