RECORD HEATWAVE ...NOW IT’S TIME FOR STORMS!
THUNDER, lightning and hailstones will bring Britain’s record-setting heatwave to a violent end today.
The scorching spell reached its height yesterday when temperatures nudged 95F (35C), the hottest day in June since the summer of 1976.
It was the warmest day of 2017 for the fifth time in a row.
Yesterday was also the hottest summer solstice – the year’s longest day – since 1936.
But the mercury is set to plunge 20 degrees in many areas today, deluging the UK with torrential storms.
The Met Office issued severe weather warnings for much of northern, central and southern England.
More than 1.5 inches of rain could fall, sparking flash floods, power outages and rush-hour chaos.
The baking spell reached a tragic climax when it claimed a popular teenage boy as its third drowning victim.
A 15-year-old, named locally as keen amateur boxer Spencer Hurst, got into trouble in a lake behind a housing estate in Pelsall, West Midlands.
One mourner wrote on Facebook: “We all lost a friend, we all lost a very caring lad and a mother and father lost their son.”
Fire service area commander Ben Brook said the death was a stark reminder of the dangers of swimming in open water. Thermometers are expected to fall back down to the low 70s around much of Britain today.
Met Office forecaster Emma Sharples said: “Showers will move across the country bringing fresher conditions behind them.
“We have some warnings out for rain and there will be some large hail and very heavy showers in some places. Thunderstorms are also due to move in.”
Sweltered
The only parts of the UK expected to escape the brunt of the bad weather are London, Kent and Essex.
Some areas including Newcastle have already been battered by the first downpours, with pedestrians soaked as they struggled to cling on to brollies yesterday.
The Met Office’s chief meteorologist Steve Willington explained: “High pressure that has dominated our weather of late is starting to move away, allowing fresher air in from the west.”
However, experts said that despite the rain it was “by no means a washout” and there would still be some sunny weather this weekend.
Yesterday it got so hot at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire that keepers gave animals lumps of fruit frozen in giant ice cubes to suck.
Primary school pupils in Andover, Hants, were sent home as classroom temperatures hit 86F.
Commuters on the London Tube sweltered in packed carriages while drivers and rail travellers faced misery from melting road surfaces and buckled tracks.
At Alton Towers theme park the £12million Galactica ride broke down, leaving dozens of thrillseekers stranded 30ft in the air.
Visitors to the Staffordshire park claimed they were stuck for up to half an hour on the ride, billed as the world’s first virtual reality rollercoaster when it opened last year.