Temperatures dip but will climb again by weekend

The heatwave is expected to continue throughout July

Temperatures in Rochdale will dip a little to be in the low 20s today and Thursday before climbing again on Friday - possibly holding up through until Sunday, though there may be cloud as well as sunshine.

While some parts of the country will experience sweltering temperatures of over 30C, Rochdale's high is expected to be a maximum of 25C, still hot and well above Rochdale's average July maximum temperature of 19.7C.

The forecast beyond the weekend is less certain, but forecasters are predicting Britain’s best spell of July weather since the 2006 heatwave.

The Met Office said: “The hot spell is because an area of high pressure has made its way up from the South West and is now lying across the UK.

“These warm temperatures are likely to dominate over the UK through the next seven to 10 days.”

Warmer weather helps boost retail sales and supermarkets are expecting to sell considerably more bottles of sun cream. Asda has said it could sell triple the amount of burgers normally purchased at the weekend. Tesco expects to sell 1.5 million cucumbers, 250,000 disposable barbecues and a million tubs of ice cream over the weekend.

However, the hot weather is not universally welcomed, experts say the rapid shift from cool, damp weather to the current heat wave has meant misery for many hayfever suffers.

The warmer weather has also caused a surge in ambulance calls and led to more 999 calls being made.

Meanwhile, researchers have linked soaring temperatures and a rise in the number of emergency admissions for accidental injury among children.

As the mercury climbs, more and more youngsters are admitted to hospital because of accidents, according to healthcare data analysts CHKS.

In January 2010, when temperatures reached an average of 1.2C a total of 2,249 children were admitted to hospitals in England.

But when temperatures rose to 17.1C in July, a total of 5,228 were taken to hospital with injuries which included broken arms.

The number of admissions then fell again in December to 1,872 as temperatures plummeted to below freezing.