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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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(Ronald Mcdonald) wrote in
om:

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.

Temperatures reached 35.3c in Central London today and both Cambridge
Airport and Gravesend (Kent, SE England) recorded a 36c in a METAR. Pretty
stifling stuff (well, for the UK) - especially when your office air
conditioning breaks down.

Regards
Richard


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Ronald Mcdonald wrote:

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.


Obviously global warming has moved across the pond this summer, while
we here in the eastern US are having a mild summer.

I'm surprised the pattern has persisted for so long. Probably hints
at something about the upcoming winter, but who knows exactly what.


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Steve Okonski expounded:

Obviously global warming has moved across the pond this summer, while
we here in the eastern US are having a mild summer.

Mild? Tropical, at least around here. It's been HHH for weeks now,
with no relief in sight, I fear. I hate HHH, you'll never hear me
complain about the weather in January! G

--
Ann
Cold weather/snow fan
South of Boston, MA


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I'm with you Ann. HHH is for the birds, they seem to be enjoying it. I south
of
Boston too and haven't shut my AC off
since 4th of July. Feel bad about GB, they probably don't have a lot of
Central Air there. I don't think they are used to
that kind of weather.

Yvonne


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(Leanda554) expounded:

I'm with you Ann. HHH is for the birds, they seem to be enjoying it. I south
of
Boston too and haven't shut my AC off
since 4th of July. Feel bad about GB, they probably don't have a lot of
Central Air there. I don't think they are used to
that kind of weather.

You are so right, I'm sure they're miserable, the tube is over 100
degrees, there's no AC in there at all! They freeze if it gets too
cold, too, they're used to a much more moderate climate than we are!

--
Ann
Cold weather/snow fan
South of Boston, MA


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"Ann" wrote in message
news
"Steve Nester" expounded:

Me - I love this kind of weather, it feels like summer. If we could just
get
some more cool thunderstorms (the kind with big black clouds and bolt
lightning, not the wimpy slow moving mild ones) I'd be happy.

Now, that's the only good thing about this weather, the light show. I
love a good thunderstorm!

As for your averages, it was over 90 quite a few times in July, and
relentlessly humid ever since. I'm glad you're enjoying it, at least
someone is!! ;o)

Maybe in the first week of July, when I was in Montreal. I just remember
last summer having weeks of high 80's/low 90's, esp. in August.

Steve


--
Ann
Cold weather/snow fan
South of Boston, MA


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Ann wrote in
:

You are so right, I'm sure they're miserable, the tube is over 100
degrees, there's no AC in there at all! They freeze if it gets too
cold, too, they're used to a much more moderate climate than we are!

Not only do we complain, but the rail system goes haywire!

Last week saw the record broken, 38.1C (100.5F) in Gravesend, beating the
previous record by 1.8F. Because temperatures were 35C, speed restrictions
were enforced in case some rails buckled.

British Rail used the "excuse" that although continental Europe sees
temperatures 35C in summer, they don't have our cold winters so our tracks
are designed differently. Which is nonsense because continental Europe has
much colder winters the UK whose climate in winter is ameliorated by the
warm sea!

Regards
Richard


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