McScorchio! Scotland swelters as weekend heatwave set to continue

Children and adults enjoy the hot summer weather at Gourock Outdoor Pool yesterday

Scots sweltered in the hottest day of the year yesterday as the weekend heatwave continued.

Thousands headed out on day trips, with ferries to the isles packed with passengers and large crowds reported at our national parks.

A temperature of 28.2C, around 83F, was recorded at Threave, in Dumfries & Galloway, while at Ballywatticock, in County Down, the temperature reached 31.2C, the highest ever recorded in Northern Ireland.

Highs for the year were also reached in England and Wales.

The temperatures are expected to remain high for the rest of the week thanks to warm air coming in from the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean.

7:30am

Aberdour on the Fife coast is deserted yesterday morning in photographer and wild swimmer Tina Norris’ picture

1:30pm

By yesterday afternoon, staycationing Scots kitted out with towels and windbreakers crowd the popular beach

Delays in the sun

Traffic was busy on tourist routes around Loch Lomond yesterday, with 40-minute hold-ups on the A82 between Renton and Arden. Car parks were reported full by 10am at beauty spots around the country.

Passengers faced a wait of two hours for the CalMac ferry from Largs to Millport, with a wait of 90 minutes for those heading from Wemyss Bay to Rothesay.

The high temperatures are officially a heatwave, after the country recorded highs of 25C on three successive days.

The Met Office’s Sarah Kent said: “The weather pattern is now blocked, which means it will be next weekend before we see any sign of a change. This is a slow-moving high pressure system out in the Atlantic and there’s no indication it is moving any time soon.”