DEEP HEAT... THEN ROLL IN THUNDER
Beaches busy but storms loom
BRITAIN basked in the year’s highest temperatures yesterday with the mercury set to rise even further tomorrow.
Beaches and parks were packed with sunseekers as a peak of 29.7C was recorded in Teddington, West London.
But the Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning until 6am on Friday for thunderstorms in most of England and half of Wales.
Forecasters predict 30C could be reached in the South tomorrow.
Sunseekers hit the beach at Bournemouth, Dorset, where Lucimora Goiania from Brazil enjoyed a dip in the sea, and people in Stratford-UponAvon, Warks, tried to cool down with a row on the river.
In Southend, Essex, where a big clear-up began yesterday, deckchairs flew as around 10 men fought with horrified families looking on.
There was cloud and hazy conditions in the North, with a high of 19C in Yorkshire, and temperatures will reach up to 24C today and 23C tomorrow.
Met Office expert Oli Claydon expects a 10C fall by the weekend, bringing temperatures back to average for June. He said: “There’s a chance of 30C on Wednesday then temperatures will drop off.”
England’s previous hottest day this year came on June 2 when a temperature of 28.3C was recorded in Northolt, West London.
Mr Claydon said that despite the blazing hot weather Britain is still not officially enjoying a heatwave. For this to happen, consistently high temperatures above a set level must be recorded three days in a row. London – where the trigger is 28C – will narrowly miss out with a forecast high of 26C today. Mr Claydon added: “Because we had such a wet and cold May, temperatures do feel very warm. “But we still haven’t met the specific criteria for a heatwave and that’s because of the slight drop expected for Tuesday.”