Unexpected thunder storms and heavy rain brought temporary chaos to parts of the region yesterday.

Heavy localised thunderstorms caused power failure at one hospital and more than 2,000 homes, and briefly threatened play at Durham's Riverside ground in Chester-le-Street.

In Newcastle, workers dashed to their offices in a sudden cloudburst while the heavy cloud cover led to the cancellation of a planned viewing of the rare astrological phenomenon of Venus crossing the face of the sun at Durham University.

Lightning striking overhead power cables led to blackouts at 2,000 homes in Burnopfield, Ebchester, Dipton and Hamsterley Mill in Derwentside, County Durham, and to around 150 homes in Riding Mill, near Hexham, Northumberland.

But while life in the region was interrupted by the thunder and lightning, the south basked in glorious sunshine, with temperatures in London reaching 31 degrees, and many were able to watch the Venus transit unimpeded.

While the extent and severity of the storms came as a shock to many, a Met Office spokesman defended its prediction record, claiming that "isolated" thunder showers had been forecast in the North-East.

And he added it would be rather cooler in the North-East today compared with yesterday.

He said: "I think it is all over for now as far as the high temperatures are concerned.

"It is going to be fairly cloudy in the North-East on Wednesday with just a few drops of rain."

In the south, motorists on the M1 and M11 corridor sweltered in 30 degrees.

Bookmakers slashed the odds on this summer being the hottest ever, William Hill's from 20-1 to 12-1 and Ladbrokes from 20-1 to 10-1.

Warren Lush, of Ladbrokes, said: "When the temperature rises so does the heat of the money we see. Last year we were confident that the mercury would not reach 100F but we took a cold bath and shelled out £250,000."

Tomorrow is expected to be muggy across Britain, apart from pockets of Kent which are expected to continue to enjoy the sunshine.

This was no consolation to 100 school-children at Durham City who had eagerly awaited a planned viewing of Venus crossing the face of the sun in the physics department of Durham University. The event had to be cancelled because of "poor visibility."

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