Britons are set to bask in the hottest day of the year so far today as bank holiday Monday brings highs of 77F (25C) and more than two million drivers are expected to hit the roads to enjoy it.
People are flocking to parks and beaches as they make the most of the turnaround in conditions – with the spell of summer sunshine now expected to last more than two weeks, following the fourth wettest May on record.
Conditions will improve further this week with highs of 81F (27C) by Wednesday, making Britain hotter than Rome which will only reach 77F (25C) – and it follows two days of glorious weather already over the three-day weekend.
The weekend brought highs of 75.2F (24C) yesterday and 73.2F (22.9C) on Saturday – but neither beat the current record for the warmest day of 2021 which was two months ago on March 30 when London hit 76.1F (24.5C).
With the start of meteorological summer now just one day away, Britons have been flocking outdoors and making the most of sitting outside pubs and restaurants after Covid-19 restrictions were mostly lifted on May 17.
Scenes at beaches and parks across the UK are now looking mostly back to pre-pandemic life, as discussions continue within the Government over whether it can hit the target date of June 21 to lift all the remaining rules.
A woman takes her dogs for a run this morning on Branksome beach in Bournemouth on bank holiday Monday
Two women go for an early morning swim on Branksome beach in Bournemouth today as a dog watches on
A cyclist makes their way along the promenade at Branksome beach in Bournemouth this morning
People look out at the water while others take their dogs for a walk on Branksome beach in Bournemouth this morning
A woman goes for an early morning swim in the sea amid the warm weather at Bournemouth in Dorset this morning
A man takes his board into the water at Bournemouth beach this morning on a very warm day for Britain
A woman goes for a jog in the sunshine along the promenade at Bournemouth beach in Dorset this morning
A woman enjoys an early morning dip in the sea off Bournemouth beach in Dorset this morning
And there is no sign of rain in the near future, with the spell of summer sunshine now expected to last more than a fortnight. BBC Weather reports that daily highs will remain at around 74F (23C) until at least the middle of June.
Met Office meteorologist Becky Mitchell said the mercury could reach 77F (25C) today – surpassing the high for 2021 so far. Temperatures will be at least in the mid-70Fs (low 20Cs) for most of the UK, even northern Scotland.
Ms Mitchell said: ‘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.’
Photos from the weekend showed Britons making the most of the weather, with beaches and parks packed. Party-goers were spotted out in force last night, with the city centres of Leeds and Newcastle particularly bustling.
Day-trippers piled in to several picturesque seaside resorts and basked in glorious sunshine as they enjoyed clear blue skies on the packed beach on Lyme Regis, while punts and kayaks filled the River Cam in Cambridge.
Droves of lockdown-weary Brits made the journey to Devon in a bid to enjoy the hot weather – as roughly 75,000 visitors were expected at Brighton, with 50,000 at Bournemouth and 50,000 at Blackpool.
A few people were seen lying on the beach next to bottles in the sand at Bournemouth in Dorset this morning
Three men dry off after enjoying an early morning swim in the water at Bournemouth beach in Dorset today
A runner passes a cyclist on the promenade at Bournemouth this morning as people enjoy some exercise in the warmth
People out early for swimming and enjoying the heat on Branksome beach in Bournemouth this morning
A swimmer holds their arms up on Branksome beach in Bournemouth today at the start of a hot bank holiday Monday
People take their dogs for a walk on Branksome beach in Bournemouth this morning at the start of a hot bank holiday Monday
Two people walk over the sand at Branksome beach in Bournemouth today as they enjoy the morning sunshine today
Two women look to the beach as they enjoy a swim in the water at Bournemouth in Dorset this morning
People out early for swimming and enjoying the heat on Branksome beach in Bournemouth this morning
People go for a walk along the sand at Bournemouth in Dorset this morning while a man holds an inflatable
Two people enjoy some time on the beach at Bournemouth in Dorset today at the start of a very warm bank holiday Monday
Some 11million daytrippers were clogging roads over the weekend, 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.
At least two million separate leisure journeys were expected to take place today, but the RAC said this figure could be even higher if more people are tempted out by the excellent weather.
One local who visited The Imperial pub 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.
Forecasters at the Met Office warned people to slap on plenty of sun cream as UV light levels will be high or very high. However, Ms Mitchell warned there could be some thunderstorms for some parts of the UK on the way.
‘There will potentially be some thunderstorms by midweek, the first bout of showers will come into parts of the South West and there will be a few thunderstorms in that,’ she said.
The storms in the South West are expected to hit on Wednesday, with the South East due a bit of a soaking by Friday.
Bags of rubbish are piled up by a bin at Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham this morning as the bank holiday weekend continues
A woman walks pust rubbish left behind at Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham this morning on the bank holiday weekend
Rubbish left behind at Birmingham’s Cannon Hill Park this morning after hundreds visited the park to enjoy the sun yesterday
‘There’s a chance of some thundery break down in the south east and we could have some quite intense storms there,’ Ms Mitchell said.
‘There’s still a lot of uncertainty but with the warm and humid weather we are having we have the key ingredients for thunder storms.’
She continued: ‘The warmer weather will stick around until at least Thursday in most places, that’s when we could get some slightly fresher air coming in.
Although a fine bank holiday is rare, the temperatures are not unusual for the time of year, with the mercury usually sitting in the high teens and low 20Cs by late May.
The Met Office warned previously that levels of harmful UV light will be very high over the coming days, and advised people to wear plenty of sunscreen.
Holidaymakers, day trippers and locals flocked to the picturesque seaside resort of Lyme Regis in Dorset yesterday
Packed crowds flooded Bournemouth beach yesterday afternoon as Britons rushed to the coasts to enjoy the sunshine
May has been the fourth wettest on record for the UK, with an average of 199mm (7.8in) falling, and the wettest ever for Wales.
Meanwhile, SAGE advisers today called for England’s June 21 Freedom Day to be delayed ‘by a few weeks’ amid rising cases of the Indian Covid variant – as a minister admitted the Government ‘couldn’t rule anything out’.
Professor Ravi Gupta, who sits on the NERVTAG subgroup, urged No10 to push back the crucial date to allow more people to get vaccinated before ditching all social distancing and mask-wearing rules.
The Cambridge University expert claimed there were early signs the third wave had already begun – after daily infections breached 4,000 on Friday for the first time in nearly two months – and warned it could become ‘quite explosive’ over the next few months.
During a round of interviews this morning, Environment Secretary George Eustice said the Government ‘couldn’t rule anything out’ when asked if the June 21 unlocking could be pushed back. He insisted a decision would be made in a fortnight’s time when ministers will know more about the Indian strain’s effect on hospital rates.
Covid infections surged by 40 per cent in a week after 3,240 were recorded yesterday. The UK also recorded more than 4,000 cases on Friday for the first time since the start of April
But the death rate has remained very low. Although scientists say it is inevitable it will start to rise in the coming weeks. More than 5million over-50s have not received both doses of the vaccine
The roaring success of the jabs drive has seen almost 40million adults given at least one dose and 25million fully inoculated
This map shows how Covid cases changed across the country in the week up to May 23, the latest available. It indicates infections rose fastest in parts of London and the North West where the Indian variant is dominant, but that they are also rising in other areas
The roaring success of the vaccine programme has seen almost 40million adults given at least one dose of the jab and 25million fully inoculated. But it leaves more than 5million Britons over-50 either unvaccinated or only partially protected.
Professor Gupta said the jab rollout was giving people a ‘false sense of security’ because infection rates were still relatively low, but claimed it was inevitable unvaccinated people would eventually start to fall ill with the highly infectious strain.
His comments were echoed by Professor Susan Michie, who sits on SAGE’s SPI-B committee. She warned Britain was on a ‘knife-edge’ as it approached June 21 deadline. The behavioural scientist, from University College London, said fully opening the country as planned could lead to a serious spike akin to the second wave in the winter.
‘Either it could run away as it did before Christmas, which would be extremely serious and we’d have more restrictions, or it could be contained,’ she told Sky News.
Last week the noise from Government was that the June 21 date was likely to go ahead but sources in No10 say there is now a ’50 – 50′ chance.
Mr Eustice told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘The Prime Minister has said all along that he is going to take this one step at a time and will only make the judgement on the next step, on June 21, about a week before that.
‘The rates are going up again slightly but from a low base and probably to be expected, given there are a significant number of younger people who are now out and mixing but haven’t had the vaccine – I suppose that is to be expected. But the right thing to do in a couple of weeks’ time is to assess that data before deciding what we can do.’
Ministers are set to make a final decision on whether to push on with the last phase of the roadmap on June 14, a week before the restrictions are set to be ditched.
The Prime Minister has repeatedly promised he will be led by ‘data not dates’, and said his roadmap will be ‘irreversible’.
It comes as NHS chiefs warned the lockdown-induced backlog of treatments for ailments other than Covid means even a small increase in the number of Covid patients could cause hospitals to be overstretched once again.
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