HOTTEST DAY OF YEAR
TEMPERATURES soared again yesterday beating Saturday’s record of being the hottest day of the year so far.
The thermometer hit 18.8C on Saturday but was even higher yesterday reaching highs of 20C in some parts of Wales.
Sunseekers flocked to the beaches and parks on both days with families making the most of the warm weather.
Met Office forecaster Emma Boorman described the weekend’s weather as “a little taste of summer”.
She said the previous warmest temperature of 2017 had been 18.7C recorded in Porthmadog on the edge of the Snowdonia National Park on March 25.
She said much of Wales enjoyed temperatures of 16C to 17C on Saturday, but Cardiff reached 19C which was eight degrees higher than the average for this time of year.
She said Dolgellau had recorded 18.5C on Saturday and Trawsgoed, near Aberystwyth, had hit 18.8⁰C.
Meterologist Derek Brockway said Usk in Monmouthshire had reached 21C yesterday while other areas like Porthmadog were cooler with a temperature of 12C and low cloud.
It was a similar picture in other parts of the UK with the thermometre reaching a high of 25C in Cambridge.
Temperatures in some parts of the UK are expected to drop by as much as 10C today as the weather returns to normal for this time of year.
The Met Office predicts patchy cloud and sunny spells in Wales today but that it will feel cooler. Temperatures will reach a high of 13C.
Ms Boorman said: “Temperatures will return to normal for this time of year but because we have been spoiled with such good weather it will be a lot more noticeable and feel cooler.”
While she said it is too early to give an accurate forecast for Easter the weather is not expected to reach the sunny highs enjoyed this weekend.
The glorious weather had packed out the likes of Barry Island, Lido Ponty in Ynysangharad Park, Pontypridd, and the RHS Flower Show in Cardiff’s Bute Park.
Craig O’Shea, of O’Shea’s Café on Barry Island seafront, said that by lunchtime on Saturday hungry day trippers were queuing out of the door and along the prom.
“It’s been absolutely packed,” he said. “The beach was packed at 10am on Saturday. It’s definitely been the busiest weekend of the year so far.”
The Lido Ponty – the only one of its kind in Wales – enjoyed a bumper Saturday, welcoming its 100,000th swimmer since the historic attraction reopened to the public in August 2015.
A spokesman said that apart from a few “walk-in” spaces that had been left free for people turning up on spec, all of the sessions had been booked.
The three-day annual RHS Show opened in the capital on Friday. Show manager Rose Gore Brown said: “Our Cardiff show is always a great event the first major show of the season and it really kicks everything off for us in a lovely way.
“This gorgeous sun we’re having just makes it that little bit more perfect and the spring flowers on display look even more amazing with the sun on them.
“Everyone is relaxed and happy in the Cardiff sunshine - and whatever they’re doing; listening to the band, having an ice cream, playing with the kids or even a cheeky glass of bubbly, it’s all made better by this gorgeous weather.”