Fog is all the Tyne's as North East stays cool

Jun 30 2009 The Journal

WHILE the rest of Britain basked in a glorious summer heatwave, the North East was left out in the cold yesterday.

Thousands of sunseekers flocked to beaches across the country to enjoy sizzling temperatures of more than 90F.

The heat soared to 30C in the south of England, with experts claiming it was the hottest day of the year so far.

The Met Office even issued its first-ever heat warning, telling Britons to be aware the sweltering temperatures could pose a threat to the elderly and sick.

But it was a very different story up north.

Scottish holidaymaker Ken Marshall, 48, his Danish wife Rakkie, and their children Michaela, 12, Rachel, 10, Meghan, 9 and Matthias, 6, travelled three hours to the beach at Whitley Bay. But they were left wishing they had stayed at home in Airdrie, where temperatures hit 22 degrees. “The weather was better when we left Airdrie,” laughed Ken, a commercial project engineer for Scottish Power.

“It has been a bit wet here.”

A spokeswoman for the Met Office said last night: “The difference in the temperature in the North East today is pretty significant.

“We have had an awful lot of fog over the North Sea which has spread in over land. When you get fog like that it’s going to knock temperatures back a bit. The North East is pretty much the only part of the country which isn’t seeing the sun today.”

It was a warm 18 degrees in both Newcastle and Durham and more of the same is expected in the coming week.

Temperatures in Bristol and East Anglia were around 27 degrees while Birmingham was resplendent in 26-degree heat .

The Met Office spokeswoman said today would be a brighter day in the North East with highs of around 22 degrees but the region will most likely suffer from fog off the North Sea again, particularly earlier in the day.