Heatwave is on the way out

Sweltering: London will have a cooler week

After a scorching weekend of record temperatures the weather will today start returning to normal.

For London and the South-East it will be a lovely day, with a high of about 29C (84.2F) and plenty of sunshine and cooling breezes. By the middle of the week the temperature will have fallen to 24C (75.2F).

The return to more bearable levels comes after the hottest day on record, when London sweltered in 100F sunshine. First the London record and then the national record were smashed by the highest temperatures ever seen in Britain.

The hottest place was Gravesend in Kent, where forecasters recorded 100.8F (38.1C).

The reading beats the previous highest temperature of 37.1C (98.8F) recorded at Cheltenham in August 1990 and came the day after temperatures of 97F (36C) on Saturday broke all records in the capital.

As the Met Office called Sunday "a record day in British weather history", bookmakers prepared to pay out an estimated £500,000 to those who put bets on it hitting 99F and 100F.

Michael Dukes, of PA Weather-Centre, said summer temperatures had risen as a result of global warming over the last 30 years but that this would not mean an instant end to the traditional British rainy summer.

"Things are going to get hotter but you might have to wait several years for a heatwave of this intensity again."

Today forecasters warned of cooler weather and thunderstorms later in the week.

The record-breaking day was one of contrasts, with long traffic jams as motorists tried to reach beach resorts in the South and torrential downpours sending people running for cover in parts of the North-East.

The AA received a third more calls than normal, many to deal with overheated cars stuck in traffic jams. Rail passengers also faced delays after fears over buckled tracks led to speed restrictions being imposed across the country.

Rail and Tube chiefs meet today to decide whether to order more limits for what could be the ninth successive day of travel chaos caused by the heat.

John Armitt, Network Rail chief executive, said, however, he would never apologise "for putting safety first".

A blanket 60mph speed limit on the railways continues throughout southern England, covering services operated by Connex, South Central and South West Trains.

This also applies to Virgin's West Coast Main Line and trains across East Anglia. On the Underground all trains operating at surface level - two thirds of the system is above ground - were ordered to reduce speed to as low as 25mph - again because of the threat of buckled rails.

There were more delays for Tube commuters today.

The Metropolitan and Jubilee lines suffered disruption into the morning peak period when weekend engineering work failed to finish on time.

A defective train at Warren Street caused delays for thousands of Victoria line users. There was no service on the District line between Earl's Court and Olympia due to a signal failure. In the capital, the London

Eye remained closed because the glass pods were too hot, while supermarket bosses in Bristol fitted fans to trolleys to help keep customers cool.

Hospitals were busier than usual. At St Mary's in Paddington, almost double the number of asthmatics attended the casualty department complaining of increased symptoms brought on by the heat and smog.

Charing Cross Hospital dealt with more than 10 cases of dehydration as well as a number of casualties brought in with high temperatures. At University College Hospital, there were several cases of dehydration.

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