Starbucks sales heating up as coffee drinkers cool off

The heatwave sent thousands of extra people flocking to buy icy Frappuccinos at Starbucks, helping its UK sales rise almost 5% in the three months to the end of June.

The world's largest coffee shop chain said Frappuccino sales at its 688 UK stores rose by a fifth on last year, with the strawberries and cream variety the top-seller.

That helped the UK business post a fourth consecutive quarter of sales growth, and contributed towards Starbucks Corporation's 37% rise in third-quarter profit to $207.9 million (£136.4 billion).

Worldwide sales in the three months rose 8.7% to $2.61 billion.

After a period focused on closing hundreds of failing branches around the world, it plans to open 300 stores during this financial year, which ends in September.

Darcy Willson-Rymer, Starbucks' UK managing director, said: "We have looked at every aspect of the business in the UK and made major changes and investments.

"These include launching new-look stores, making every latte and cappuccino Fairtrade, and increasing training so that our baristas can deliver better service and better coffee.

"It was the right thing to do and it's working."