London to get year’s hottest weather

The Evening Standard/LondonThe Rolling Stones will swelter at Hyde Park and Andy Murray will feel the glare of more than just the eyes of the Wimbledon faithful this weekend as Britain basks in the hottest temperatures of the year.Sun worshippers will enjoy highs of up to 30C (86F) in parts of southern England tomorrow, while most of the UK will enjoy temperatures in the mid to high 20s.And the spell of warm weather is expected to stay with us, lasting throughout next week and beyond.Forecasters said the weather will be much hotter than usual for the time of year - the average maximum temperature for July in England is 20.9C (69.5F) - and many parts of the country will enjoy temperatures on par with popular Spanish holiday resorts.Andy Ratcliffe, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said the hottest temperatures would be felt across southern England, especially in the London area.“There will be highs of 27C (80F) or 28C (82.4F) today, with tomorrow perhaps reaching 29C (84F) or even 30C (86F).”Most of the UK will experience widespread sunshine, though further north there is a risk of rain at time, especially in north-west Scotland today, Ratcliffe added.It will be dry almost everywhere tomorrow - patches of rain will again threaten northern England and Scotland - with London and the south east of England again enjoying the hottest weather.The fine weather is expected to last for up to 10 days.The last time the country enjoyed a long spell of warm July weather was in 2006, where temperatures were above 28C (82.4F) in many areas for a fortnight.More recently, temperatures peaked at 30.7 B0C between 23 to 26 July last year.The previous highest temperature of the year was 27C (80F) on June 30 but recent years have seen Britons endure wet and overcast summers.The warm weather has sparked a run on sunglasses and suncream with John Lewis and Waitrose reporting soaring sales as temperatures rise.Britain’s biggest department store group said demand for sunglasses jumped by 76% last week, helping the retail chain rake in a weekly sales record of £80mn — up 6.7% on the same week last year.At its sister supermarket Waitrose, the sunny weather combined with the “Wimbledon effect” led to a 56% rise in sales of strawberries compared with the same time last year. Demand for champagne rose 26% and sales of Pimm’s increased by 90%, helping push total sales up 12.3% to £120.5 million. Meanwhile, suncream sales rose 27%.William Hill today slashed the odds of the temperature hitting 100F this summer from 8/1 to 6/1 as the hot weather triggered a flurry of betting. It is 1/3 that July has the hottest day and 12/1 that the UK record temperature of 101.3F will be broken.