http://www.ntlworld.com/partners/itn...in/1248669.php
Baking Britain could be heading for its hottest day in history.
Enfield in Middlesex and Central London are already at 34C - with the
hottest part of the day still to come.

The present record is 37.1C (98.8F) set in Cheltenham on August 3,
1990.

Forecasters have said tomorrow could also see record temperatures.
Bookmakers have stopped taking bets on the possibility of hitting 100F
after the odds tumbled from 12-1 to 5-4.

By contrast, Foula - a rocky outcrop west of the Shetlands - is the
coldest place in the UK this afternoon at 15C.

The hot weather looks set to continue through the weekend and into
next week, with temperatures again in the mid-30s.

The heatwave has claimed its first lives as two 17-year-old boys died
in separate tragic accidents as they cooled off in stretches of water.

One of the teenagers, Christopher Jones, was with friends when he
decided to go for swimming at a Hampshire lake in Hurstbourne Priors,
near Whitchurch.

Friends saw the boy go under without coming back up. The body was
recovered about two hours later.

The second tragedy happened in a canal lock in Rotherham when Mark
Stephen Attwood drowned swimming in what is described as a
"treacherous stretch of water" by South Yorkshire Police.

Detectives said they are keeping an open mind about the circumstances.

Last night, thousands of homes in Northern Ireland were without
electricity after the province witnessed some of the most dramatic
thunderstorms for years.

Meanwhile, Network Rail has continued to impose speed restrictions of
60mph in some places amid fears that high temperatures could cause
rails to buckle.

It has emerged a rail line buckled by the heat prompted a driver to
stop his passenger train yesterday afternoon as he approached platform
two at Gatwick Airport station at slow speed.

Speed restrictions are forcing Virgin Trains to cancel 20 of its West
Coast Main Line services, including 16 trains running between London
and Birmingham.

Other West Coast services started or terminated early, while others
are making additional stops.

GNER, which runs East Coast main line services, cancelled four
services on its London-Leeds route, while Central Trains also scrapped
services between Birmingham Snow Hill and Dorridge in the West
Midlands.

In the west of England, the First Great Western train company
cancelled 17 services, mainly on its routes between Cardiff, Bristol
and London.

Police officers are handing out water to motorists trapped in miles of
tailback following a major crash on the A34 at the M4 Newbury junction
in Berkshire just after midday.

Two lorries collided causing one to rupture its fuel tank, spilling
more than 200 gallons of diesel.

Thames Valley Police said they are concerned about people stuck in
more than three miles of tailbacks either way, as temperatures rise
into the high 30s.

The weather has meant British apples have arrived in the shops ten
days early and there are predictions of a bumper year for ice-cream
sales and the finest vintage of English wine.

But economists have warned that the heatwave could cost Britain's
economy £280 million today alone - and £1.8 billion if it goes into
next week.

The losses take into account a drop in productivity on the shopfloor,
as well as the numbers of shoppers absent from the High Street,
workers taking days off and travel difficulties which delay meetings.


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