Hottest day of the year so far

The soaring temperatures made very unusual weather for early June

The UK has experienced its warmest day of 2004 so far with temperatures reaching more than 31C (87.8F) in some parts of the country.

Central London and Cambridge led the temperature league with just over 31C, a BBC Weather Centre spokeswoman said.

It has also been hot in the Midlands and East Anglia, where highs of 28C (82.4F) were reached.

However, regional variation meant parts of Scotland remained cool, the coldest place being Fair Isle at 11C (51.8F).

Flash warning

Despite the soaring June temperatures heavy thunderstorms had broken out in parts of Yorkshire, a spokeswoman for the BBC Weather Centre said.

We'll have to wait until later in the summer to see the hottest day of the year - last year August peaked at 39C BBC Weather Centre

"We have issued a flash warning in the East Riding area of Yorkshire", she said.

"There are localised thunderstorms which may lead to torrential rain in some parts of the north this evening."

Earlier a spokeswoman for the BBC Weather Centre said the temperatures, which were higher in some places on Tuesday than in Lisbon, Nairobi and even Marrakech, were not typical for the UK, even in June.

"It's very hot for June, the average is around 19C. The hottest June temperature on record is 35.6C.

EUROPE'S HOT AND COLD SPOTS Paris - 33C London - 31C Rome - 30C Lisbon - 29C Madrid - 29C Malta - 27C Ibiza - 26C Venice - 25C Moscow - 22C Copenhagen - 17C Oslo - 15C Stockholm - 13C

"The temperature has reached just over 31C in London - which is the hottest so far."

However, she said the temperature would drop by Wednesday to about 23 or 24C.

"The rest of the week is going to be a lot fresher and the hot spell will be coming to end.

"We'll have to wait until later in the summer to see the hottest day of the year. Last year August peaked at 39C."

Reduced odds

Meanwhile as soaring June temperatures reached their zenith bookmakers responded by cutting their odds on this summer being the hottest on record.

Both William Hill and Ladbrokes reduced their odds on the hot weather, trying to avoid the payouts they had to make last year.

Sun seekers cool off on the hottest day of the year so far

William Hill is now offering 12/1 that temperatures will reach a record high, bringing down its odds from 20/1.

It is offering just 8/1 that the mercury in a thermometer will reach 100F (37.7C).

Ladbrokes have also reduced their odds of record temperatures from 20/1 to 10/1, while reaching 100F has now been set at 7/1.