10 top facts about the UK's hot summer weather

Beer and barbecues in the sunshine, but also buckled rails and bloodsucking horseflies ... and did you hear about the trout rescue in Shropshire?The UK does not have an official definition of a heatwave, although the Met Office is working on one. However, the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organisation defines it as a period during which the daily maximum temperature exceeds the maximum normal temperature by 5C for more than five consecutive days. Weather experts were happy to use the term last week after temperatures nudged the low 30s from Monday to Friday. Continue reading...