Parts of the UK will be as hot as Tenerife tomorrow as hundreds of people head to Edinburgh Fringe, Cowes Week and festivals across the country.
Temperatures were forecast to hit 26C in much of England and Wales today and the summery conditions look set to continue.
Parts of the Midlands and East Anglia could see up to 27C, forecasters said – the same temperature as parts of the Canary Islands.
People are expected to flood to the coast to make the most of the warm spell of weather
The sun shone at Trent Bridge earlier as the England cricket team regained the Ashes from Australia, and crowds enjoyed perfect conditions as surfers took to the waves at the Boardmasters festival in Newquay.
Last year, the remnants of Hurricane Bertha forced music at the event to be cancelled, with organisers reporting “flying tents” and flooded fields.
This weekend’s good weather also comes in time for the start of the new football season, Wilderness Festival and the London Triathlon.
The good weather has arrived in time for Edinburgh Fringe, which started yesterday
Gemma Plumb, a forecaster at Meteogroup, said: “It's quite cloudy across western Scotland and northern Ireland. Clouds are increasing there, and it's going to turn quite windy.
"But elsewhere, there's plenty of sunshine around. We're looking at highs today of around 25C or 26C across England and Wales." UK heatwave - 1st July is the hottest day for nine years
Cloud and patchy rain will move into northern and western parts of the UK tomorrow and sweep across the UK on Monday, as temperatures cool.
The start of last month saw the hottest day ever recorded in July, seeing of 36.7C at Heathrow Airport.
Additional reporting by PA
