Brighton and August 2020 heatwave

 Brighton is the closest seaside resort to London and I have been there hundreds of times during my life. And nowadays I visit at least once a year.

In August 2020 the south of England was experiencing a long heatwave and many beaches were packed, despite the social distancing for Covid-19. And after months of lockdown and restricted travel, naturally people are keen to make the most of the good weather. The media was full of photos of crowded beaches and parks as people went out to enjoy the sun.

I'd had some holidays cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions and hadn't had a night away since I returned from my Amazon cruise in Feb. So I decided to Brighton and have 1 night away. 

As it was still during the heatwave I knew Brighton would be packed. I arrived early, before 10 am. I went straight to the beach, as I had no intention of spending time there, I just wanted to see it and have a quick paddle. It was fairly empty, but compare my 10 am photos with the one at 2 pm and the press photo (Sky news) taken later in the day.

Just to prove I paddled -

I went on the pier, which had a one way system for social distancing -

The gulls must be glad that visitors are back in Brighton. The gulls are notorious for stealing food from people and I always sit and watch, watching the eyes eyeing up their next target!

The heatwave started at the end of July, the 31st was the 3rd hottest day on record, with 37.8 C at London Heathrow. Brighton was actually cooler than London, the latter was 36.4 C on the 7th. Local temperatures on the 7th -

A term new to me, "tropical nights" when temperatures don't drop below 20 C all night -

By 12th August morning, we'd had :

Rain and thunderstorms kept being forecast but nothing happened in my part of London, until a slight drizzle on 13th morning and it was slightly cooler. By that evening the heatwave had gone. Phew!