93 degrees HOTTEST DAY OF YEAR AND BRITS HIT THE BEACHES

BRITONS flocked to the seaside yesterday on the hottest day of the year so far.

As temperatures hit the 90s - peaking at 93F in the London - the forecast was for even more scorching weather today.

Top Mediterranean hot spots were put in the shade by the scorching heat by 90F Bournemouth and Brighton - Lanzarote managed only 27C (81F), while Ibiza was 29C (84F).

Forecasters say the heatwave will last until Tuesday and then cooler weather will bring rain.

The Met Office confirmed that yesterday's 93F was one degree higher than the year's previous hottest day, July 28.

The hot spell comes in the wake of freak storms that caused flash floods in parts of England, and coincides with torrential downpours in Central Europe.

Yesterday, however, the rain was a dim memory in Britain as sun- seekers made up for lost time.

In Bournemouth, where temperatures also beat Corfu, the first sun- worshippers took their places on the beach at 7am.

By lunchtime, 100,000 people were packed on the sand.

All 7,000 deck-chairs were rented out by 11am and seafront businesses reported a roaring trade. Ice-cream vendor Dave Blackwell said: "Sales have gone mad - I can hardly keep up."

In Brighton, the city's branch of Boots reported massive sales of sun-tan lotion. And some seafront traders ran out of soft drinks and ice-cream by noon as bathers tried to cool off. A spokesman for Brighton police said: "Most of the 100 miles of beaches on the south coast are jam-packed.

"No doubt the hospital casualty departments are bracing themselves for scores of sun-burned tourists who have tried to make too much of the hot day."

The sun also cast its rays in the north. A spokesman for Blackpool police said the promenade was "heaving" and the Lancashire resort had not seen anything like it for weeks.

Meanwhile more than 180,000 revellers danced and sun-bathed to the sounds of Welsh rockers Manic Street Preachers and Coldplay at the V2002 festivals in Hylands Park, Chelmsford, Essex, and Weston Park in Staffordshire.

The heat brought widespread traffic chaos, however. An AA spokesman said the M23 from London to Brighton was clogged, as was the M20 in Kent and the M5 to the West Country, as people headed for the coast.

Across the Channel in France motorways to the coast were also blocked.

Roadside masseuses offered free sessions to drivers on busy routes to ease tensions brought on by the heat.

Frank Saunders, national forecaster for the Met Office, said there was more hot weather to come.

"We were expecting it just to peak on Saturday and then cool down. But it looks like it will last until Tuesday."

But he cautioned that thunder was also on its way and warned people in the north of England to expect the return of flash floods.

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