Brighton and Hove sweltered under the hottest weekend of the year so far as traders delighted in the tourist boom.
Temperatures reached 30 degrees Celsius as the forecasted heatwave began in earnest.
The sunshine coincided with a number of festivals across the county including Paddle Round The Pier in Brighton and the Love Supreme Jazz Festival near Lewes.
It meant tens of thousands of people made their way to the coast, providing a much needed boost to traders after last year’s terrible weather – the wettest summer in Sussex for 50 years.
Anne Martin, general manager of Palace Pier, said: “The good weather has brought a huge influx of visitors to the city and to the pier.
“It is wonderful to see so many people enjoying the sunshine and enjoying all aspects of the city.”
Adam Chinery, a member of the Seafront Traders’ Association and manager of the Brighton Watersports Centre, said: “On Friday the sea mist came in and threatened to kill the weekend.
“But thankfully it has been a wonderful weekend.
“The seafront has been manic.
“It does not replace the amount lost [from bad weather] but hopefully it is the start of a great summer.
“We usually work on a six month summer with three months being workable, and so far we have only had about two weeks so we hope it continues.”
Peter Marrocco, owner of Marroccos restaurant in Hove, reckoned they had sold “thousands” of ice creams this weekend.
He added: “It has been a long time since it has been this hot.
“And with so much going on it has been amazing.
“After the dreadful long winter it is payback time.
“I haven’t seen so many people down on the beach for ages so it is really nice to see.”
The long termforecast makes for great reading too, with temperatures set to be around the 20 degrees mark and no rainfall expected until the end of the month.
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