Sun-seekers make a splash as region enjoys mini-heatwave

The scorching weather which swept across the region on Saturday and Sunday was the result of an area of high pressure moving up from the South of England, bringing with it warm air and strong sunshine. But an only too familiar picture of cooler and showery weather is expected to return throughout this week, and is due tocontinue into the bank holiday weekend.

However, sunseekers in Yorkshire made the most of the blistering temperatures over the weekend, and among them were revellers who cooled down by taking a dip in the River Wharfe at Ilkley.

Sales of ice cream and sausages soared nationally as shoppers dusted off their barbecues to enjoy the sunny weather.

Tesco said it sold more than a million litres of ice cream during Saturday. The supermarket giant was also expecting to sell about 13 million sausages, 5.5 million burgers and 30 million bottles of beer over the two days.

Both the AA and RAC reported massive demand for their breakdown services as high volumes of traffic hit the roads and cars struggled in the heat.