London is hotter than Rio

London was today putting Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Lisbon in the shade with temperatures predicted to top even the weekend's glorious highs.

They were forecast to hit 28C and remain high for the rest of the week. In Rio, they were only expected to reach 22C, in Buenos Aires 18C and in Lisbon 21C.

The PA WeatherCentre, said: "The weekend was beautiful but today will be better. The rest of the week won't be as hot but will still be warm. Normally, temperatures at this time are about 21C."

Over the weekend, roads to the coast reached gridlock with 10-mile queues at Bournemouth. More than 50 firefighters were called to put out a blaze engulfing 15 acres of woodland in Tilgate Forest, Crawley, West Sussex.