Stand by your sun beds... today may be the hottest so far this year at 32C

SUNSEEKERS CAN rejoice with the mercury set to hit 32C in Yorkshire today in what could be the hottest day of the year.

The Met Office expects the highest temperatures to be in the Doncaster to York area, with coastal areas hitting the high 20s.

However, the relief from the unseasonably chilly recent weather will be short lived, with temperatures dipping back to around 23C tomorrow and 21C on Sunday.

West Yorkshire Police said the suspension bridge at Ilkley would close today to deter groups of teenage “tombstoners” from using it to jump into the water.

Police will also patrol the town’s riverside beaches, with the heatwave expected to tempt large crowds to the banks of the Wharfe.

Today’s soaring temperatures are unlikely to alter the overall statistics for the month, following a few unseasonably chilly weeks.

Forecasters said the UK average temperature for July was currently on course to be just 14.1C – one degree less than the 1981-2010 long-term average of 15.2C.

The cool temperatures and wet weather are due to lowpressure systems and weather fronts coming through, as well as “unseasonal” winds.

Gusts of up to 50mph were recorded on Monday.

The UK has already surpassed 100 per cent of the average monthly rainfall and only experienced two-thirds of the expected sunshine for an average July – a total of 113.4 hours, official figures from the Met Office show.

In recent years, the average July temperature has exceeded the average, hitting 16.4C and 17.2C in 2019 and 2018 respectively.

Met Office forecaster Becky Mitchell said: “It will be the first time this July we have seen 30 degrees, which is really unusual.

“You don’t normally go through the whole of the month without getting to 30 degrees somewhere.

“The last time we went through the entire July without hitting 30C was 2011.”

Next week looks set to be more unsettled, with the weather turning cloudier amid outbreaks of rain.

It will be the first time this July that we have seen 30 degrees.

Becky Mitchell, a forecaster with the Met Office, speaking yesterday.

PICTURES: OWEN HUMPHREYS/STEVE PARSONS/JOHN WALTON/PA WIRE RED ALERT: Sunrise at St Mary’s lighthouse in Whitley Bay as a hot spell is predicted. Winston, a Border Terrier pup, uses a garden hose to cool off in Windsor. The London Eye, seen across the flat-calm Thames, reopens to the public tomorrow.