Worthing residents and visitors react to hot weather as heatwave hits town

Andrea Martina Golzi, 23, of Warwick Street, said: “I am from Italy so I like it! And I sell ice cream when the sun is out – especially after 3pm.”

Hermione Walsh, 81, travelled from Redhill for the day yesterday (Wednesday, July 24) to keep cool.

She said: “I love it. By the sea you can enjoy it. I’m sure I will find it hot by the end of the week, but at the moment it’s just right.”

Forecasters said today could be the hottest day on record, with temperatures in London possibly reaching 39.5 degrees Celsius – and 30 degrees Celsius in Worthing.

Visitors from London and other parts of the country have been travelling to the seaside throughout the week to escape the scorching inland temperatures.

Moreen Weedon, 82, from Kingston upon Thames, came to Worthing on the coach for the day yesterday.

She said: “I used to like the heat, but not now I’ve got older I can’t take it like I used to – I’m just sitting here in the sun for ten minutes to get some vitamin D, but mostly I stay in the shade.

“It’s really lovely down here today – there’s a nice breeze and it’s just comfortable.”

Moreen said she thought the sudden heatwave was due to climate change.

She said: “Yesterday was really unbearable in Kingston. We had hot summers when I was a child, but not as hot as this.”

Richard Morgan, 53, from Yeovil said he was happy the weather was warm and dry as he was in a trailer tent on holiday.

He said: “You can’t do too much – that’s the beauty of it – just stand in the breeze and have a drink, but that’s about it.

“I think something must be happening for it to be so different now though, where you get these hot blasts. You can’t say it’s definitely going to be hot between certain times anymore.

“We had it warm back in April, then it was cold again in May, so something must be happening.”

Roger Smith, 50, from Durrington, said he had to have two fans going to keep cool.

He said: “We’ve been getting progressively hotter summers since 1976, which was a really hot year.

“That’s man though isn’t it. He wants to go places, he wants to travel – it probably does have something to do with what man has done to the planet, I suppose.”

The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for West Sussex, with the heatwave anticipated to spark thunderstorms on Thursday afternoon which were expected to continue overnight.

Public Health England and the Met Office tweeted advice to stay safe in the heatwave, including tips to drink plenty of water and close curtains in indoor spaces that face the sun, as well as wearing sunscreen and a hat, or staying in the shade as much as possible.

They also advised never to leave anyone in a closed, parked vehicle – especially young children or animals – and to look out for older people and those with health conditions.