Britain is in the grip of a heatwave with parts of the country sweltering to the hottest temperatures in three years - and forecasters predicted the heat will continue.

Tennis fans were near the centre of the heatwave as crowds sweltered at the All England Club in Wimbledon, south-west London, ahead of Andy Murray's game with Stanislas Wawrinka.

The Met Office confirmed that Monday was the hottest day of the year so far, with sunbathers in St James's Park in central London enjoying the top temperatures of 30.4C (86.72) at 3pm on Monday afternoon - the warmest since July 2006.

Paul Knightley, a forecaster for Meteogroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "London was pushing 28C over the weekend, and today we are getting close to 30 degrees (86F) in the London area."

He said the heatwave was likely to last until Thursday or Friday, with the mercury rising even higher over the coming days.

Helen Chivers, a spokeswoman for the Met Office, said: "Thursday looks like it will be the hottest day of this spell."

Temperatures in the capital are the same as Athens in Greece, and higher than Lisbon in Portugal (27C, 80.6F), Nice in France (25C, 77F) and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil (23C, 73.4F).

Eastern areas were the hottest, while South West England and Wales were the most likely to be hit by thunderstorms.

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