Scotland to be as hot as the Med today… but east will beat west for sunshine

SCOTLAND will be hotter than Malta today – as thousands head to beaches and barbecues for a Father’s Day frazzle.

Temperatures reached 27C in parts of eastern Scotland yesterday and the Met Office is forecasting a sweltering peak of 25C today, making it one of the hottest weekends of the year so far.

The news is sure to mean a flurry of al fresco Father’s Day celebrations with the big supermarkets reporting runs on people snapping up beer, disposable barbecue sets and bangers.

ASDA expects to shift a million burgers and 500,000 sausages during the hot spell.

While Tesco said it expects to sell 200,000 ice lollies, up to three million bottles of beer and two million bottles of wine to those looking to cool down.

One dad – who is planning to cool down with a dip in the sea at St Andrews, Fife – said the fine snap is good news after a grey, dreich start to June.

Oil worker Donald McBayne, 40, who will hit the beach with wife Laura, 39, and kids Harris, five, and Isla, one, said: “The country will be awash with men with bad sun burn, food poisoning from under-cooked BBQ food and hangovers from too much beer.

“You could say it’s the perfect Scottish Father’s Day!”

But forecasters are warning it won’t be shorts and sun cream everywhere, with a possible east-west split dividing Scotland into scorchio and shady.

The mini-heatwave has been caused by a 2000 mile-wide plume of hot air from Spain, where temperatures reached a sizzling 45C.

Much of England baked in sweltering conditions yesterday, with top temperatures of around 29C.

Met Office forecaster Marco Petagna said: “After up to 27C on Saturday in eastern Scotland, Sunday looks like 25C – but Monday only the high teens.

“In England, Monday looks like 32C as the heat peaks.”

Scotland’s eastern seaside spots will be a better bet for the good weather today, so day-trippers are advised to head for a poke of chips on the shore at North Berwick rather than an ice cream at Largs if they’re seeking sunshine.

Forecasters predict Glasgow will remain cloudy throughout tomorrow with an expected high of 20C. Sunny intervals and a high of 22C will be seen in Edinburgh and a high of 20C with some sunny spells is predicted for Aberdeen and Dundee.

Newcastle will be a prime spot for sun-worshippers tomorrow with dry conditions and a high of 25C, a marked contrast to Scotland’s north-west Highlands. In Ullapool, showers and a high of just 13C is forecast.

The hottest day of the year is expected to be recorded in England over the weekend, surpassing the 29.4C measured in Lossiemouth, Moray on May 28.

On the back of the heat spell, the RNLI has issued a warning after teenagers were spotted tombstoning from a pier into shallow water.

Around half a dozen youngsters repeatedly took running jumps from the end of Cullercoats Bay’s south pier in North Tyneside at around low water yesterday. It comes just 18 months after 15-year-old Caitlin Ruddy was swept from the pier opposite and to her death by a wave while playing with her friends.

Adrian Don, of Tynemouth RNLI, said: “Jumping off piers is always dangerous unless the conditions are really controlled and it is supervised by someone experienced.”