Thousands have been enjoying British beaches

Sun-loungers and shorts have been the order of the last few days as many parts of the country basked in the heat.

But there has already been rain around the London area and in the West Country, although Britain is not likely to get weather anywhere near as extreme as that battering western France at the moment.

BBC weather forecaster Peter Gibbs said: "It has been horrendous in some parts of France. In Bordeaux they had tremendous storms, people killed, winds up to 90 mph. We're not going to get anything like that.

"But there is potential for some very heavy downpours. It is only the south-west of England that has seen very much so far. The storms are gradually working their way northwards."

He said everywhere north from East Anglia, the Midlands and North Wales was still having dry and sunny weather.

But he said the outlook for the weekend was the breakdown in the extremely hot weather moving north, but temperatures remaining in the 20s (C).

"There will be showers around. There will be a fresher feel to things as it clears through."

He concluded: "It will still not be bad for a British summer."

The maximum temperature in Britain on Wednesday is predicted to be around 29C.