Heat grips parts of southern B.C. for another day

Environment Canada is forcasting another day of sizzling heat through much of British Columbia's southern Interior, Okanagan and Fraser Canyon.

The weather office says 13 temperature records were broken or tied across southern B.C. on Sunday.

The Fraser Canyon community of Lytton was the hot spot in Canada at 41.2 C, which broke the old record of 40.4 set 12 years ago.

Heat warnings remain posted for the Fraser Canyon, as well as the Okanagan, North and South Thompson, Cariboo and 100 Mile regions.

Forecasters say temperatures are expected to moderate slightly but remain at least in the mid-30s.

The heat is blamed for spawning a fierce lightning storm that swept across the inner south coast on Sunday night before moving into the central Interior.

The B.C. Wildfire Service reports 10 fires in the last two days, including at least three new spot fires that flared on Sunday in the Nanaimo area.

Fire danger ratings across much of the lower third of the province are ranked high to extreme, but a weekend of torrential rain in northwestern B.C., means the fire risk there is listed as very low.