UK to 'freshen up' as heatwave ends
Britain's hottest spell in years has come to an end as a cool front moved in, lowering the mercury across the country.
On Thursday, swathes of the UK remained in the grip of the blistering heat while other parts dealt with heavy rain and flash floods.
The hot weather - which saw temperatures reach a high of 31.8C (89.2F) on Tuesday - will be replaced by cooler air accompanied by showers in many parts.
Temperatures on Thursday afternoon soared to 30C (86F) at Heathrow airport, but other regions - including the North, the West and Ireland - were hit by heavy downpours.
Steve Ellison, forecaster for MeteoGroup UK, the weather arm of the Press Association, said temperatures on Friday and Saturday would hover around the mid 20s in southern England, and a few degrees lower in the North.
He said: "We saw the last of the heatwave on Thursday. From Friday onwards temperatures will cool down across the country. It will certainly feel a lot fresher. There will be thundery showers moving north-eastwards, with East Anglia and North East England likely to be worst affected. But behind those showers it will clear up, with sunny spells."
Mr Ellison said Wimbledon should escape most of the showers over the weekend as the weather turns unsettled.
During the hot spell ambulance crews treated large numbers of patients for breathing problems, chest pains, loss of consciousness and fainting.
It also emerged that a 17-year-old boy died while swimming with friends in a reservoir near Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, on Wednesday afternoon.
And there was a grim reminder that animals are vulnerable to the heat, after two German shepherd police dogs died when they were left in a car outside Nottinghamshire's force headquarters in Arnold.
