It's hot in the city!

And that’s both good news and bad for the coolest place to work in Preston.

Staff at The Ice Co are working round the clock trying to keep up with demand.

But, while that’s a big deal for sales, it’s cold comfort when the energy bills arrive.

“That little wheel is spinning faster on the meter,” said depot manager Martin Black at the plant at Walton Summit. “We’re coping, but we’re obviously using more electricity.

“This hot weather is great – especially working in here. But personally I prefer it a bit cooler.”

Temperatures in the company’s cold stores are down to -25C, with blast freezers even lower at -30C.

“It’s cold in there,” added Martin. “But staff have to wear special suits which are tested down to -50C. They aren‘t allowed in there without them.”

Forecasters say our brief flirtation with summer could go on for a little while longer, despite the threat of thunderstorms dousing the baking weather today.

Yesterday was the hottest day of the year by a good way, with the thermometer climbing towards a whopping 30C in Lancashire and a stifling 35C in the South East – not far off an all-time July record.

The mercury looked set to fall to a more comfortable 24C today and inch further down to around 22C tomorrow. But the weather experts predict it could still by 20 or above until the middle of next week.

A plume of hot air coming up from Spain has been responsible for this week’s tropical temperatures. It arrived on Sunday afternoon, sending the thermometer shooting up, although forecasters say yesterday was definitely the peak.

Temperatures in the London area yesterday afternoon challenged the July record in the UK of 36.7C set at Heathrow last summer.

Bookmakers Corals are offering odds of 10-11 on 100F (37.78C) being reached this week. And, perhaps more predictably, they are also quoting odds of 1-3 that there will be a hosepipe ban somewhere in Britain this summer.