Showers cool down sweltering Britain

Published on 20/08/2012 00:21

Showers and cloud prevented yesterday from being the hottest day of the year.

Temperatures looked set to come close to Saturday’s 2012 high, but were washed out by a heavy mid-afternoon band of rain.

On Saturday, the mercury reached a sweltering 32.4C (90.32F) at Cavendish, in Suffolk, and forecasters believed yesterday could eclipse even that. But the highest temperature was still far above average at 30.2C (86.36F) in Cambridge.

The south-east of England was the hottest part of the country, with most areas recording temperatures in the high 20s.

Around the country, sun-lovers enjoyed slightly less hot
conditions, with highs of 24C (75.2F) in Altnaharra, Sutherland, and Exeter, and 25C (77F) on Humberside.

The bookmaker William Hill offered odds of 16/1 that temperatures will top 100F during the Paralympic Games, which run from 29 August to 9 September.