The mini heatwave that has seen parts of the UK basking in glorious sunshine is to disappear - with fears tomorrow's Olympic opening ceremony could be hit by rain.
Wednesday saw temperatures reach 31.4°C (88F) at the Olympic Park South, beating Tuesday's high of 30.2C in Buckinghamshire to make it the hottest day of the year so far.
More scorching sunshine was expected to see similar readings today.
Heavy rain that has drenched Scotland and northern England is forecast to move southwards on Friday, while southern England is also set to suffer wet weather moving in from northern France.
But Sky News weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said that while showers were a strong possibility, the opening ceremony may escape the heaviest downpours.
"Over the last few days we’ve had a taste of summer with blue skies and sunshine over much of the UK, especially so in the south of England," she said.
"However, we’ll start to see subtle changes into tonight and by the early hours of the morning showers will push up from northern France into southeastern parts of England.
"These will become more frequent and heavy throughout Friday, maybe posing a threat for the Olympic opening ceremony by the evening.
"However, the latest data shows most of them clearing just in time."
The weekend is likely to see temperatures drop considerably before Britain is faced with a week of cooler, more unsettled weather.
:: See Sky News' latest weather forecast
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