On the hottest 29 September on record, only the shopkeepers are unhappy
Temperature records are tumbling with each creep of the mercury, seaside hoteliers are smiling skywards and high-street retailers are muttering darkly into their tills as Britain continues to bask in what everyone but the forecasters has taken to calling an Indian summer.
Today's high of 28C (82F) in Northholt, west London, broke the record for 29 September ? recorded in York in 1895 ? and the Met Office is predicting similar temperatures tomorrow, making the 27.8C noted in Maidenhead on 30 September 1908 look equally vulnerable.
The weekend, meanwhile, could see parts of the UK basking in temperatures of 29C, making Hampshire as hot as Havana and Margate sultrier than Mexico City.
The unseasonably warm weather ? which is likely to send thousands scuttling to the coast, rivers and parks on Saturday and Sunday ? is more than 10C higher than the average temperature for the end of September.
Helen Chivers, a Met Office forecaster, said 29C was possible tomorrow but warned that things would start to cool slightly by the end of the weekend.
"Most parts of the UK are going to continue to enjoy warm sunshine all the way through until Sunday," she said. "Temperatures in many places on Friday will be between 25C and 27C, with the possibility of 28C or 29C in eastern areas. It will be very similar on Saturday.
"Going into Sunday, a band of cloud and rain will start to move in. We should hold on to some very warm weather in the south, but by the time we get to Sunday temperatures will probably be around 25C to 26C."
The prolonged warm spell, Chivers said, was down to the high pressure across the UK, which was stopping the Atlantic weather system from bringing in cloud and rain.
The Met Office also pointed out that the high temperatures did not technically constitute an Indian summer, which it defines as a "warm, calm spell in the autumn, especially in October and November".
Summer's last rays have delighted seaside businesses, which have endured a wet and miserable few months. The Travelodge hotel chain has reported record occupancy levels for the weekend, with a "stampede of bookings", particularly at seaside towns such as Blackpool, Bournemouth, Brighton, Scarborough, Torquay, Morecambe, Great Yarmouth, Bangor in Wales, Eastbourne and Berwick-upon-Tweed.
A spokesman said: "We have seen a double digit increase in bookings for Friday, so it looks like a lot of Britons will be taking the day off work to bask in the sunshine."
In Bournemouth, tourist bosses have had to hire extra beach wardens to cope with the number of visitors who are expected to flock to the beaches. More than 90% of the town's 16,000 hotel rooms have been booked for the weekend and, with most of the 3,500 deckchairs and 600 beach huts being hired out and long queues at ice cream stalls, the resort is running at peak summer levels.
"It is fantastic to see so many people enjoying themselves on the beach and lapping up this late burst of sun," said Andrew Emery, the Bournemouth seafront manager.
Others, though, are less than thrilled by the heatwave. Shopowners, who are still struggling to cope with the consumer spending squeeze, would rather see people pounding windswept high streets than sandy beaches.
"Retailers need cold autumnal weather," said Nick Bubb, a retail analyst at Arden Partners. "It's a big problem at a time when consumers don't feel like spending anyway."
Bubb has downgraded his second quarter forecast for Marks & Spencer's sales of general merchandise ? which includes clothing ? in light of the weather outlook.
"It is fair to say M&S will sell a lot of barbecue and picnic fare but that is unlikely to make up for all the coats and jumpers that M&S won't have been selling this week," he said.
Bubb added that out-of-town-shopping centres would be feeling the pinch, as potential shoppers don't feel like driving in the heat.
The most recent official figures from the Office for National Statistics showed sales volumes falling 0.2% in August, as the impact of the English riots added to the wider malaise swamping the sector.
Elsewhere, some councils have been looking beyond the heatwave towards what could be another snowy winter. Plymouth city council said that because of damage caused by the last two harsh winters, its seven gritters would be on standby from this weekend to keep the city's main roads open should it snow in the next six months.Sutton council is preparing to hand out 10kg (22lb) of free grit to residents to use on footpaths, pavements or roads in front of their homes when winter sets in.
"It might seem a little strange to be handing out the free grit already, particularly when we're enjoying an Indian summer, but we have to be prepared," said a councillor, Simon Wales.
In Wiltshire, meanwhile, the residents of Longleat safari park have been getting to grips with a different kind of ice: parched monkeys and giraffes have received emergency rations of fruit ice lollies. Wardens spent five days making the frozen cocktails of bananas, apples and oranges in June, but thought they would have to consign them to the freezers after a wet July and one of the coldest Augusts on record.
Yesterday, however, the keepers began to deck the boughs with rows of lollies. "Staff had given up hope of the weather warming up enough to hang out the treats," said deputy head keeper Ian Turner.
"But due to the lovely warm weather, the animals have been queuing up to cool down."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/sep/29/records-tumble-britons-head-beach
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