Sunseekers flock to UK beaches and pack out bars under 25C sun as Boris Johnson hopes for return to normality
Brits have packed onto beaches as soaring temperatures offer a renewed glimpse of summer following lockdown.
Sunseekers, buoyed by their new freedoms, flocked to seafront cafes and bars on Saturday and soaked up the sun.
The mercury hit 25C in London this afternoon - on a par with Mexico City’s peak today.
Seaside resorts were braced for swelling visitor numbers this weekend as many schools broke up for the summer holidays.
Most Brits are expected to opt for “staycations” this year as opposed to abroad trips amid continuing fears of virus resurgences in parts of Europe and the Americas.
In Brighton on Saturday afternoon the seafront was packed out, with hundreds enjoying the warmer weather on the beach and large queues forming outside seafront bars.
Huge traffic jams were pictured on the A23 snaking into the East Sussex city on Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, numerous wind shields filled the beach at Camber in East Sussex, while Margate, Kent, was also busy.
Sun worshippers also flocked to the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, including Bournemouth which had to declare a major incident last month as it became overwhelmed with crowds, in scenes repeated at the honeypot throughout lockdown.
Inland dozens turned out at Northcote Road in Battersea, London, for al fresco dining while many groups filled up Victoria Park in east London.
It comes as Boris Johnson was warned he will struggle to deliver the “significant return to normality” by Christmas that he pledged on Friday.
The Prime Minister is poised to ease lockdown again on August 1 to ditch guidance warning against all but essential use of public transport.
Professor John Edmunds, a member of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said a return to pre-lockdown normality is “a long way off”.
He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “If what you mean by normality is what we used to do until February and the middle of March this year – go to work normally, travel on the buses and trains, go on holiday without restrictions, meet friends, shake hands, hug each other and so on – that’s a long way off, unfortunately.
“We won’t be able to do that until we are immune to the virus, which means until we have a vaccine that is proven safe and effective.
“If we return to those sort of normal behaviours the virus will come back very fast.”
Meanwhile, local authorities have been granted powers to follow Leicester in imposing local lockdown curbs from this weekend should they see spikes in infections.
The south of England is benefiting most from the sunny spell this weekend, with London hitting 25C on Saturday and 20C temperatures seen across the South East and South West.
The mercury is in the high teens across northern England and Wales on Saturday, and in the mid-teens in Scotland, according to the Met Office, although there is widespread cloud cover.
Forecasters expect another glorious day on Sunday with swathes of southern Englnd enjoying 20C sun and clear blue skies.
The latest Met Office forecast says: “Cloud and outbreaks of rain over parts of England and Wales this evening sinking southeastwards with some heavy bursts of rain over southern UK during the early hours. Clear spells and a few showers further north where a chilly night.”
For Sunday, the Met Office says: “cloud and outbreaks of rain over southern England and East Anglia slowly becoming confined to far southeast England. Otherwise, sunny spells but also a few showers in the north.”
Forecasters predict “fine, dry and increasingly warm” weather in the south next week.
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