‘CHRIS’ OF DEATH FOR HEATWAVE

Fierce storm to rock Britain

TROPICAL Storm Chris is set to ravage Britain and kill off the heatwave this weekend.

The storm – so ferocious it is likely to be upgraded to a hurricane – is currently battering America’s east coast.

And it is expected to head across the Atlantic, bringing gales and downpours to Ireland and then the UK.

Already the storm has whipped up dangerous rip currents from North Carolina to Maine as it builds up to hurricane strength.

Met Office expert Becky Mitchell warned: “The remnants of Storm Chris could move across the Atlantic and get caught up in different weather systems.

“Much of the week is going to be dry and fine, although it will be a bit cooler.

“But towards the end of Sunday and into Monday we are likely to see more changeable weather on the way.” The storm’s arrival spells the end of a sweltering summer so far after more than two weeks of the mercury hitting 28C or above every day.

But the good news is that long-range forecasts predict the heatwave will return for the second half of July and the whole of August.

Paddling

Meanwhile families are making the most of the sunshine before it briefly fizzles out, with supermarkets reporting a paddling pool shortage.

Tesco and Sainsbury’s are both struggling to keep up with the record demand as people rush to cool off.

Asda said it had already sold double the number of pools than in the whole of last year.

But parents have been warned to be careful spraying children with garden hoses to cool them.

Several youngsters have been scalded by boiling water left in hosepipes lying under the scorching sun.

STAR

THE original

1926 map of Winnie-The-Pooh’s Hundred Acre Wood by artist E.H. Shepard sold at a Sotheby’s auction in London for a record

£430,000.

BURST

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