Heatwave to last 10 days

London and the South-East are set for a 10-day heatwave.

Yesterday was the hottest June day since 1976. Today the Met Office's official five-day forecast said the good weather would stay for the rest of the week.

With the current weather system looking settled, forecasters said the hot spell could continue for the next 10 days.

Hot winds blowing in from the Atlantic are behind the soaring temperatures which saw Londoners sweltering in tropical temperatures over the weekend.

Temperatures reached 33.1C (91.6F) in the capital - matching Caribbean levels.

A Meteorological Office spokesman said: "It certainly was the proverbial scorcher. It was the hottest June day for decades in the capital. It's hard to believe now, but earlier this month some areas of the South-East experienced the coldest June night for 66 years."

While temperatures over the next 10 days are unlikely to match the weekend peak, a high of 27C is predicted for the first day of Wimbledon today - hitting 29C elsewhere in the South-East - with similar temperatures predicted all week.

In London yesterday, thousands headed to the nearest pub. Shane Burns, manager of the Flask in Highgate, said staff sold more than 700 pints and almost 400 jugs of Pimms.

Sam Rutt, assistant manager of the Duke's Head on the river in Putney said he and his staff had pulled almost 750 pints. He said: "Ironically, if it had been a bit cooler, we would have sold even more. It was a bit too warm to drink all day."

Tooting Bec Lido was packed and some Londoners cooled their feet in the Thames along the South Bank.

But the heat was too much for some who had planned more vigorous activities for the day. Several athletes taking part in the Windsor Triathlon were airlifted to hospital after collapsing in the scorching heat.

Cyclists attempting the gruelling London-to-Brighton bike ride fared better - only a handful of the 27,000 riders failed to complete the course.

A spokesman said: "We were quite surprised that more people didn't drop out, but it just took people longer.

"We had lots of water points on the route. In one of the villages, kids came out with water pistols and gave riders a good spraying as they rode past." Elsewhere, however, the heatwave brought tragedy as three people drowned in separate incidents.

A 16-year-old boy drowned while swimming in the Thames at Sunbury yesterday afternoon. A friend, also 16, who had been swimming with him called for help and was aided by someone in a passing boat. Police and emergency services pulled the teenager from the river but he later died in hospital in Chertsey.

A 30-year-old man died after plunging into a boating lake in Stevenage, Herts, on Friday and a 35-year-old man drowned in similar circumstances on Saturday in Milton Keynes. A 23-year-old man was pulled from the sea this morning near Anstys Cove beach in Babbacombe, Devon.

In Hitchin, a 24-year-old man died after being rescued from an outdoor swimming pool yesterday evening.

The Government has already issued warnings over the hot weather. During-the heatwave of 2003, some 27,000 people across Europe died as a direct result of soaring temperatures and in Britain 2,000 died - 85 per cent of them aged 75 and over.

Last month the department of health last month warned people, especially the elderly and the young, to take care in the predicted heatwave.

The hottest recorded day in British history was 10 August 2003, when a temperature of 38.5C (101.3F) was recorded near Gravesend. The hottest June temperature was 35.6C (96F) in Southampton on 28 June 1976.