Record sunshine to give way to more storms

Torrential rain and thunderstorms are expected to sweep across Britain today, bringing to an end some of the hottest temperatures of the year so far.

The blazing sunshine and clear blue skies that sent thousands flocking to parks and beaches over the weekend will give way to heavy rainfall and possible flooding, in a repeat of the downpours that caused chaos in London last week.

Temperatures hit a record level on Saturday and Sunday, with the highest-recording at 31.5C in Northolt - the hottest so far this year.

But a spokesman from PA Weather Centre warned that these warm conditions would be short-lived. "There will be intense showers and there is potential for some flooding like we saw last week. It will not be as thundery as it has been but there will still be some cracks of thunder."

The unsettled weather is likely to continue throughout the week, with more outbreaks of rain and thundery conditions set to last until Friday.

The scorching weather in Britain yesterday topped temperatures in popular holiday hotspots such as Italy, France and coastal Spain.

Even Prime Minister Tony Blair and wife Cherie, currently soaking up the rays in Barbados, would have enjoyed warmer weather had they stayed at No 10 this weekend.

Sun-seekers flooded London's Hyde Park at the weekend to embrace the good weather, after enduring a spell of flooding that brought traffic and the Tube to a standstill last week.

On Saturday, it took just thirty minutes for all 300 deckchairs at the park to be snapped up as locals and tourists grappled for the best spot.

Bertie Grade, 31, sought shade under a tree to enjoy a picnic with her one-year-old daughter Annabel. "Usually I'd be out in the sun working on my tan," she said. "But I have to keep the little one in the shade."

Banker Febrizio Ferrara, just back from a trip to Italy, was also out enjoying the weather. "In Italy, the people moan about the weather when it gets too hot," he said. "But the English have a much better attitude towards the sunshine, they enjoy it because they don't see it as much."

But the sunshine was not to everyone's liking. Joel Thomas, an icecream vendor in Hyde Park, complained: "It's too hot - especially when you're working. At one point on Saturday there were one hundred people queuing up to get ice-creams."