UK weather in pictures: Britons enjoy hottest day of year so far

Many people were pictured basking in the hot weather at Bournemouth beach in Dorset on Wednesday

People across the UK are enjoying glorious sunny weather, with the country recording its hottest day of the year so far.

Temperatures reached 28.2C (83F) in Santon Downham, Suffolk, and sunbathers across England enjoyed new found-freedom following the slight easing of virus lockdown restrictions.

The sunshine is set to continue for most of the UK on Wednesday.

But conditions are expected to become more unsettled on Thursday.

It comes after London's St James's Park recorded a high of 26.2C (79F) on Tuesday - beating 2020's previous top of 26C (78.8F) set last month.

The sun was shining over Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands

Elsewhere in the UK, Wales and Scotland also recorded their highest temperatures of the year, at 26.4C (in Hawarden) and 24.1C (in Kinlochewe) respectively, the Met Office said.

While the mercury reached a balmy high of 20.5C in Armagh in Northern Ireland.

Rob and Sally Underhill settled outside their beach hut to enjoy the gorgeous spring weather

While others at Bournemouth beach took to their boats

There were also crowds of sunbathers gathered at Weston-super-Mare in the south-west of England

Lockdown measures were eased in England earlier last week following seven weeks of restrictions, and people are now allowed to meet one other person from another household outdoors, if they stay 2m (6ft) apart.

There is also no longer any limit to the amount of exercise, or "open-air recreation" (such as sunbathing) you can do outside in England.

Meanwhile, a pod of around 10 bottlenose dolphins was spotted off the coast of Northumberland at sunrise on Wednesday - between Whitley Bay and Cullercoats Bay

In London, people observed social distancing guidelines while soaking up the sunshine in Greenwich Park

Here one woman enjoys a game of frisbee, as new lockdown rules allow unlimited exercise outdoors

And many people were seen outside in the sunshine in Broadway Market, in Hackney, north east London

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