Britain is bracing for another scorching day with highs of 68F amid a mini Spring heatwave as thousands head to parks and beaches to enjoy new-found freedom.
Skies were blanketed with layer of misty fog across the east and south of England as day broke today, while cloud descended on the northwest on a chilly April morning.
But the bracing temperatures won’t last for long, as strong sunshine burns up the fog and mist moves over the North Sea.
Highs of 68F are expected across southern England and the Midlands by the afternoon as glorious sunshine greets lockdown-weary park and beachgoers.
Some fearless Britons couldn’t wait for the mercury to rise this morning, as four brave women took a icy dip in the water off Seaburn Beach in Sunderland during sunrise.
Yesterday saw sunseekers descend upon the nation’s parks and beaches as they continued to enjoy the easing of lockdown restrictions.
And the sunny weather is expected to last all week with ‘very little rain’, the Met Office said.
Britons woke up to a chilly morning today ahead of another scorcher this afternoon – with the mercury set to hit 68F amid a mini Spring heatwave. But some fearless Britons couldn’t wait for the mercury to rise, as four brave women took a icy dip in the water off Seaburn Beach in Sunderland during sunrise (pictured)
Yesterday saw Britons descend upon the nation’s parks and beaches as they continued to enjoy the easing of lockdown restrictions. Pictured: Women taking pictures in tulip fields near King’s Lynn in Norfolk yesterday
Skies were blanketed with layer of misty fog across the east and south of England (the weather this morning, left) as day broke today, while cloud descended on the northwest on a chilly April morning. But the bracing temperatures won’t last for long, as strong sunshine burns up the fog and mist moves over the North Sea (the weather this afternoon, right)
A spokesman for the Met Office added: ‘It’s been an exceptionally dry April so far and we’ll likely see very little in the way of rain during the coming week.
‘High pressure will be keeping things settled and dry for the vast majority of the country as we go right the way through this week with plenty of sunshine at times too.’
The Met Office added in a Twitter statement: ‘Much of England and Wales will begin Tuesday on a cold note with a patchy rural frost once again.
‘It will soon warm up though under the strong April sunshine, with any mist and fog burning back to North Sea coasts.’
The scenes came after figures showed that Britons spent billions in pubs and restaurants over the weekend as restrictions began to ease.
It is estimated that some 50,000 pubs and restaurants selling alcohol served six million pints to mark ‘Super Saturday’ alone and many millions more were served on a takeaway basis by establishments without outdoor seating.
The hospitality bookings website TheFork, formerly known as Bookatable, said pub and restaurant bookings were more than double those of July last year, which was when the first lockdown ended.
And a VoucherCodes.co.uk study with the Centre for Retail Research showed £2.8billion was spent in shops.
‘Stupor Saturday’ saw people downing pints and cocktails outside pubs and bars, with many casting aside inhibitions, masks and any notion of social distancing.
Managing director of TheFork, Patrick Hooykaas, said: ‘Pub and restaurant bookings soared compared to the Super Saturday weekend last year.
‘The public appetite to get back to pubs and restaurants is impressive.
While northern areas will see patchy rain throughout the day, highs of 68F are expected across southern England and the Midlands by the afternoon. Pictured: Women swimming in Sunderland
And the sunny weather is expected to last all week with ‘very little rain’ as Britons take advantage of outdoor pubs, bars and restaurants, the Met Office said. Pictured: Women taking in the sunrise in Sunderland
Workers make their way along rows of tulips which have burst into colour in fields near King’s Lynn in Norfolk yesterday
Marcia from Norwich walks among thousands of tulips near King’s Lynn in Norfolk yesterday. She is seen posing for a picture
‘However, a risk for restaurants right now is people simply not turning up. No-shows’ will hinder post-Covid hospitality recovery.’
From today, low cloud and fog will clear by the morning followed by dry weather with sunny spells across central and southern UK.
The country will see warm temperatures by the afternoon with some rain in the north edging south and easing, followed by sunny spells and light showers.
The sunny weather has been a boost for Brits who, this weekend, returned to pubs and beer gardens across England.
Thousands of people flooded back to bars and pubs to enjoy the first weekend since lockdown restrictions were eased, with rules stating they must eat and drink outdoors, meaning the sunny weather proved beneficial for revellers.
Outdoor seating in pubs and restaurants across the country – including London, Leeds and Newcastle – were swamped on Saturday night as partygoers made the most of their new-found freedoms.
A group of people enjoyed the sunshine at St James’s Park, Westminster, as mercury levels began to rise across the country yesterday
People stood on their surf boards at Bournemouth Beach in Dorset as the country welcomed a spring heatwave after a chilly start to April
Temperatures continued to rise yesterday, with a mini-heatwave predicted before it cools off at the end of the week
Police officers were out in force across London and other cities to keep an eye on al-fresco drinkers, and even shut off Primrose Hill to avoid groups congregating for late-night parties.
The Met Office has warned that there is a risk of rain in north west England and over Scotland as a band of wet weather moves in from the Atlantic but the outlook otherwise has proven to be mainly fine.
Prior to this weekend, revellers had to wrap-up in more than just a beer jacket when they hit the pubs and bars, as they endured cool temperatures in outdoor areas under current Covid rules with temperatures in London dropping to 5C on Saturday morning.
But with Britain set to see another scorching summer, sunseekers could opt to holiday on home turf as international travel opens up again.
May 17 will mark an end to the government’s ban on overseas holidays to be replaced with a ‘traffic light’ system.
This would see see countries classed as either green, amber or red – depending on the threat they pose of fuelling the pandemic.
It has been revealed that only eight countries are set to feature on the government’s green travel list, including Gibraltar, Israel, Iceland and the US.
According to the new research, the other countries which will reportedly be on the green list are Malta, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.
Research by former strategy chief at British Airways Robert Boyle also reveals that nearly all of Europe is either on the Government’s ‘amber’ list, where arrivals must go into self-isolation for ten days, or the red list – where arrivals have to quarantine in hotels at a cost of £1,750.
Both Australia and New Zealand are currently closed to foreign arrivals while Iceland, Gibraltar, Israel, Malta and the United States all have heavy restrictions in place which ban holidaymakers travelling to the countries.
Ireland’s Government advises against non-essential travel and arrivals must quarantine for 14 days, with ‘limited exceptions’ according to the Foreign Office.
The research contradicts expectations from travel industry leaders that most of Europe would be on the Government’s green list.
The findings put Spain, Greece, Italy and Cyprus – all of which are hugely popular with British tourists – on amber because of their high coronavirus rates.
However, they could still turn green by June 28 – when the Government is set to carry out a review which could see nations moved between lists.
The report, which has reportedly been circulated among figures in the travel industry, ranks 52 countries based on a series of coronavirus-related statistics.
These include vaccination rates, infection rates and the extent of Covid-19 variants.
