Britain's hottest spell in years has been brought to an end by a raft of storms

Britain's hottest spell in years has been washed away in thunderous style as a raft of summer storms swept across the country.

Temperatures around the country were dropping by up to 8C as forecasters warned the weekend would serve up unsettled conditions.

Only parts of Scotland are still enjoying the best of the weather as rain and thunder stretched west from East Anglia.

Tennis-lovers were relieved to hear that the worst of the rain was likely to miss Wimbledon however.

Matt Dobson, forecaster for MeteoGroup UK, the weather arm of the Press Association, said Britain's heatwave is officially over.

He added: "Temperatures have returned to normal and I cannot see high temperatures returning for 10 days at least. We have got cooler air coming in from the South West and thunderstorms from East Anglia to Scotland."

Unusually, Inverness was one of the hottest places in the UK, with temperatures expected to peak at 26C (78.8F)."

The hot weather - which saw temperatures reach a high of 31.8C (89.2F) on Tuesday in the warmest spell since 2006 - will be replaced by cooler air accompanied by showers in many parts over the weekend.

On Thursday, swathes of the UK remained in the grip of the blistering heat while other parts dealt with heavy rain and flash floods.

Temperatures soared to 30C (86F) at Heathrow airport, but other regions - including the North, the West and Ireland - were hit by heavy downpours.