SUN worshippers enjoyed a scorcher yesterday – a year to the day after the Beast from the East brought freezing temperatures, ice and snow.

Temperatures in Brighton rose to a balmy 16C, hotter than Athens and Sicily and double the usual average for this time of year.

Crowds flocked to the beaches and traders enjoyed an unexpected surge in trade, write Holly Patrick and Meganne Gerbeau.

Visitor Ben Hills, 48, who travelled to the city from Folkestone, said: “It’s unbelievable, this time last year it was snowing, now it is a beautiful sunny day.

“It feels like it is the middle of summer.”

Business was booming at jewellery shop Tonsai II in King’s Road Arches thanks to the sunshine.

Employee Lucy Collier, 25, who lives in First Avenue, Hove, was delighted.

She said: “This time last year it was icy and hard to walk without slipping over.

“We were definitely not open last year and we have been open for the last week or so, it’s been great.

“Yesterday I had to keep telling myself it was February because there were so many people on the beach.”

Adam Chinery, owner of Brighton Watersports in King’s Road, said: “It is a good start to the season, the sea is a little cold for us to be really benefiting from it but it is nice to see people around.

“We’ve been here all winter and at times it has been lonely here.”

Murat Kalindamar, manager of Beach Hut Cafe near Brighton Palace Pier, said: “We tried to open this time last year but there was no trade.

“This year, since it’s been sunny, we have already sold hundreds of ice creams.”

Among those soaking up the sun on the pebbles in Brighton was Michelle Robinson, 40, a cold water swimming enthusiast who was preparing to set off for a leisurely swim around the Palace Pier.

Michelle said, “I’ve never swum around the pier before, but I thought the weather is just so nice and the water is so calm.”

“In conditions like this, it’s fine.  “I’ve got my bright neon orange float that I blow up as it gives me better visibility and it makes me more buoyant too.”

Also making the most of the weather on Brighton seafront was artist Rod Major, 70, from Hythe, near Folkestone.

Rod said he prefers painting when the sun is out as it inspires him to paint better pictures. 

Standing behind his easel on the beach with paint brush at the ready, he said: “I think my paintings are better when I’ve got some shade and lighting on them as opposed to just the blanket white sky that we’re used to seeing. 

“I’ve come down to paint a painting for my cousin who lives in Albuquerque in the middle of the desert, miles away from the sea.

“She grew up in Brighton and asked me to paint the sea for her.”

German-born nanny Julia Prammer, 19, was enjoying a break on the beach before getting back to work.

She said: “I’ll be back looking after the children later, but this kind of weather definitely makes it easier to entertain them.

“I can just send them out to the park.”

Tourist Zi Mistry, 23 said: “We’re from Nottingham and we were coming to Brighton anyway – but it’s just lucky that the weather was nice.

“We’re going to stroll around and enjoy the nice weather, stay on the beach for a bit, then head up to The Lanes and to the Royal Pavilion as well.

“It feels like we’re abroad rather than just being in England.”

It is not the first time the UK has experienced such a hot February, – a record was set in 1998 when temperatures 19.7C in Greenwich, London.

Two decades later and the temperature was broken on Tuesday in Kew Gardens, London, with a record high of 21.2C.

But it seems yesterday may be the last hot day we experience for a while.

The Met Office predicted a cooler day today, with showers later on in the afternoon.