Sunworshippers flock to Britain’s beaches

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Sun-seekers are flocking to Britain’s holiday hotspots for a scorching bank holiday weekend – sparking local complaints about two-hour waits to be served in the pub. 

Day-trippers have piled in to several picturesque seaside resorts across Britain today, with temperatures set to hit around 75F (24C) in parts of the country.

Sun-seekers basked in glorious sunshine and enjoyed clear blue skies on the packed beach on Lyme Regis, punts and kayaks filled the River Cam in Cambridge, and others took a cooling dip in the sea across the country on Blackpool Beach. 

Droves of lockdown-weary Brits made the journey to Devon in a bid to enjoy the hot weather ahead of Bank Holiday Monday – which is set to see temperatures rise to a toasty 77F (25C). 

Roughly 75,000 visitors are expected today at Brighton, with 50,000 at Bournemouth and 50,000 at Blackpool.

But 11 million daytrippers are clogging roads, RAC data showed, with traffic jams due on coastal routes including the A23 to Brighton, A31 to Dorset, A30 to Cornwall and M55 to Blackpool.

A local who visited The Imperial in Exeter said his family had to wait more than two hours for a round of drinks as the city’s beer gardens saw an influx of revellers to enjoy their time off in the sun. 

The angry customer, whose order included an Abbot Ale, pint of Carlsberg shandy and a lime and soda, told Devon Live: ‘When (we) ordered at 2.55pm, we didn’t get our drinks until two hours later. 

‘It is absolutely ridiculous I’m sorry to say. It was full, basically the security were excellent, they weren’t letting people into the garden area until there was a table free.’

And Plymouth man was left fuming after ‘spending almost an hour and a half’ in the queue for a KFC Drive-Thru in the city.

William Davies, a former restaurateur, went out with his wife and children to the grub from the popular fast food restaurant on Friday, but spent much of the evening stuck in the queue at KFC St Budeaux.

It comes ahead of a scorching June – tipped to be the hottest on record – as 88F (33C) ‘European heat pulses’ bake the country. 

Forecasters at the Met Office warned people to slap on plenty of sun cream as UV light levels will be high or very high. 

Becky Mitchell, a meteorologist from the Met Office, said: ‘We could potentially get to the hottest day of the year but definitely by tomorrow.’

The previous high of 24.5C (76.1F) was recorded on March 30 at Kew Gardens.

‘We will see highs of 24C (75.2F), most likely in parts of Wales and the Midlands and in north-west England as well on Sunday, it’s likely we could get to 24.5C (76.1F),’ Ms Mitchell said. 

‘We are expecting highs of 25C (77F) tomorrow, so the warmest day of the year so far, and both today and tomorrow we will see temperatures in the low 20s in most parts of the UK, even in northern Scotland.’

She continued: ‘The only exception is along the east coast – there is quite a lot of low cloud, mist and fog in east coastal areas and that will stay for the next few days , so highs of between 12C (53.6F) and 16C (60.8F) there – quite a lot lower than elsewhere.’

Ms Mitchell said many places in the South East including London had dawned cloudy on Sunday morning, but that had mostly cleared away by mid-morning.

Although a fine bank holiday is a rarity, in themselves the temperatures are not unusual for the time of year, with the mercury usually sitting in the high teens and low 20s by late May.

Ms Mitchell said: ‘That could go up to 27C (80.6F) in one or two spots by Wednesday, that is pretty warm for the time of year but not record breaking and not exceptional.’

‘It is just because of the weather we have been having that it will feel pretty warm,’ she said.

May was the fourth wettest on record for the UK, and the wettest ever for Wales.

Despite some bookies offering 2/1 odds on next month being the hottest June ever, Ms Mitchell said there is nothing in the long-range forecast at the moment that would indicate that will be the case.

‘There are no strong signals for it to be the warmest June on record. Temperatures will come down a little by the end of next week, and it won’t be as warm from Thursday onwards, so there are no strong signals, although it is a bit early to tell.’  

The Met Office also said today would be ‘dry, warm and sunny this afternoon’.

A meteorologist said: ‘It could be the warmest day of the year so far as temperatures approach the mid 20s.

‘However, the east coast will stay chilly and misty in places.’

Fine and dry conditions were expected to continue on Sunday as Britons made the most of their newly restored freedoms following the lifting of many lockdown restrictions.  

Evening cloud was forecast to spread from these coastal areas to eastern counties and parts of the Midlands in the evening, but a dry night with clear periods was predicted elsewhere throughout the UK.

The weekend started well as London and the South East recorded highs of 21C on Saturday, sending people flocking to beaches and parks.

In Cambridge, a floating bar did a roaring trade with the punters out on the River Cam and all those lining the banks.  

But before catching some rays, the Met Office has warned the public to make sure they don plenty of sun cream as UV levels will be high or very high

The Met Office said: ‘Keep covered and wear a hat and sunglasses, spend time in the shade and use a high factor sun cream with good UVA protection to protect yourself.’