Heatwave over... it’s now back to normal British summer

“Typical British summer” is set to return this week after the sweltering weekend, forecasters said today.

London enjoyed its hottest day of the year on Saturday, when a high of 30.8C was recorded in St James’s Park. But weather experts predict a fall in temperatures as the week goes on.

Today’s high was expected to be 25C, falling to 22C tomorrow and 21C on Wednesday.

Dan Williams, from the Met Office, said: “It will return to a more typical British summertime this week. There will be a chance of showers, but it will generally be very pleasant. The weekend was very warm, so I think this will be a welcome change.” However, London is likely to experience unsettled weather over the bank holiday weekend.

Mr Williams added: “There is a change in weather towards the end of the week, with lower temperatures and a chance of wind and rain.”

It comes after the capital’s parks and outdoor swimming pools enjoyed their busiest weekend of the year. Alan Bruce, a lifeguard at Parliament Hill Lido, said: “There were around 5,000 people here over the course of Saturday and Sunday.”

Bookmakers William Hill offered odds of 16/1 that temperatures will top 100F (37C) during the Paralympics.

The mini heatwave also led Ladbrokes to cut the odds on the temperature soaring to 100F before the end of the month to 10/1 from 20/1.