28.2C! The day Scotland sizzled
Families enjoy hottest spell of the year...with more to come
STAYCATIONING Scots flocked to beaches and beauty spots up and down the country yesterday to enjoy the hottest day of the year so far.
Although the pandemic has put paid to overseas travel for most people this year, yesterday’s bright skies and brilliant sunshine more than made up for the loss of a holiday abroad.
At the hottest point of the day, Dumfries and Galloway saw a scorching 83F (28.2C).
By contrast, in the Spanish resort of Alicante the mercury only rose to 28C.
Rome had to make do with a lukewarm 26C. Weathermen have officially declared that Scotland is having a heatwave – with the promise of yet more fine weather over the coming week.
Yesterday the country was determined to make the most of the glorious summer. While small children paddled, thrill-seekers sought deeper water, leaping off harbour walls.
Others took to kayaks, paddle boards, surf boards and dinghies.
Many were happy to stroll along the shore or sunbathe on the sand as elsewhere people flocked to beauty spots and parks for picnics, day trips and barbecues. Popular areas including the Falls of Falloch and Ben Ledi, in Stirlingshire, were busy from early in the morning.
Beaches on the east and west coasts filled up with day-trippers making the most of the heat, soaking up the sun and swimming.
However, there was disruption for visitors to the Ayrshire coast after a fire broke out at Troon train station, where buses were laid on for frustrated passengers.
There were also delays for drivers after a spate of incidents. Day-trippers from Edinburgh to Fife were caught up in a multi-vehicle accident on the northbound side of the M90, just north of the Queensferry Crossing.
Scotland’s recent warm spell is officially a heatwave after highs of 77F (25C) were recorded on three successive days.
The Met Office confirmed that yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far in all four UK nations, with Ballywatticock, in County Down, reaching 31.2C (88F) – the highest temperature ever recorded in Northern Ireland.
Threave Garden in Kirkcudbrightshire registered the hottest day of the year at 83F (28.2C), which beat Friday’s record of 81F (27.5C) at Dyce, near Aberdeen.
Edinburgh was just behind at 77F (25.2C), and Glasgow a few degrees cooler at 73F (22.8C).
Sarah Kent of the Met Office said: ‘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.’