A mum had the very bright idea of tackling the gloom of the pandemic by putting her Christmas display up early.
Caroline Gabe, 46, has been in strict lockdown with kids Jack, 23, Henry, 12, and Theo, five, since March as Theo has asthma.
She said: “It’s been a gloomy year. I thought, ‘Bugger it, I’m going to get the decorations up’.”
Caroline spent £1,000 on 3,000 lights, a fake tree and snow, and inflatable snowmen and Santas.
All that is missing is the festive T-Rex on order from America.
And Caroline says neighbours in Port Talbot, South Wales, are dazzled.
She said: “I thought it’d brighten the community. It has put smiles on our faces. It’s something nice in a horrible, surreal year.
“Christmas is a fantastic time, even in September.”
Caroline's early Christmas celebrations come as the weather soared to 31C in some parts as a late-summer heatwave sweeps across the UK.
Monday was the warmest September day since 2016 with the temperatures topping out in the Channel Isles and parts of Surrey.
The weather is the warmest it's been for a month, since early August, after cool washouts spoilt the end of school holidays.
The Met Office forecast 28C today then 24-25C daily for the rest of the week and into next week, with plenty of sunshine and dry skies for most.
The Met Office forecast a warmer-than-normal three months through autumn, from September to November - meaning the run up to Christmas could see some unusually balmy conditions.
Met Office forecaster Marco Petagna added: “Decent spells of fine weather are expected in the rest of September.”
