SPRING has finally arrived in Brighton and beach lovers are taking advantage of the perfect weather.

Reporter Josh Walton and photographer Simon Dack paid a visit to the seafront to see how people are enjoying the sunshine. The good news is the great weather is set to continue over the weekend too.

Revellers have been soaking up the sun on beaches along the coast over the past two days – with more sunshine still to be enjoyed.

Brighton beach was packed full of residents and visitors from across the region yesterday, who were sunbathing or simply kicking back with an ice cream to enjoy the mini-heatwave.

Temperatures reached more than 20C in the city, with other parts of the country seeing temperatures reach the high twenties.

Chris Ingle, operations manager at Brighton and Hove Seafront Office, said: “Going from winter weather to June type weather in the space of two days is always going to put some pressure on the seafront.

“The traders have felt this.

“But they are relieved that the sun is out and they can start getting busier.

“Visitors enjoying the sunshine at the bars and cafes is always a bonus.

“The fact that we have not had any sunshine for the past few months, people are going to fly down here this weekend.

“The water is still extremely cold and is only around eight degrees celcius.”

The warm weather we have all been enjoying is expected to continue this weekend, with similar temperatures to the past few days.

Experts have said the hot spell has been brought over to the UK as a result of warm air from Azores, which is off the coast of Portugal.

The warm air is believed to have been brought to the UK due to a combination of an area of low pressure over the Atlantic and high pressure over western Europe.

With temperatures reaching as high as 25.7C at Heathrow Airport yesterday, it was officially recorded as the hottest day of the year so far.

Temperatures seen across the country have trumped the average maximum temperature for April, which is only 11.4C.

The hottest day ever recorded in the month of April was in 1949, when temperatures soared to 29.4C.

The Met Office is predicting temperatures in Brighton to be as high as 21C tomorrow and up to 17C on Sunday.

Those enjoying the sun over the past week are being advised to make the most of the weekend, with temperatures expected to drop from the start of next week, when some showers are predicted.