SWINDON enjoyed a scorcher as the town had one of the hottest days of the year.

Glorious sunshine beamed across the South West, with temperatures hitting a peak of 22°C, rivalling sunshine destinations around the globe, including Madrid (17C) and matching Palma in Majorca (22C) and Cairo, Egypt.

At lunchtime, dozens of people visited Swindon’s parks, savouring the sunshine.

Couple Jessica Wright, 28, and Ian Heaton, 31, who live in Old Town, had fun in the sun at Town Gardens with their one-year-old son, Toby.

Jessica said: “It isn’t often that we get weather like this so we thought we’d get outside.

“Toby absolutely loves coming here, it is great to spend time together as a family and enjoy an ice cream.”

Ian, an office worker, said: “I think I picked a great day to book off work.

“There are so many people out today, it shows just how starved we are of good weather in this country.”

In the Town Gardens, there is a cafe which sells a range of hot and cold food and drinks and yesterday it proved very popular, with those who run it hoping for a prosperous summer.

The park had lots of people sunbathing and topping up their tans.

Friends Francesca Jenkins, 18, and Aimee Stevenson, 18, had a picnic at the venue, in Quarry Road.

Francesca said: “When we saw that the sun was out we wanted to make the most of it and do something different.

“We’ve got a few cakes, strawberries and a couple of tasty drinks.

“We’ll be staying out all day as you never know when we’ll get sun like this again.”

Hopefully, Swindon residents shouldn’t have to wait too long for good weather, with long spells of sunshine forecast for the remainder of the week through to Sunday when temperatures are expected to drop to 11C.

Across the country yesterday, temperatures in England beat much of the Mediterranean.

“It is staying sunny and getting warmer, so it will be a good week,” said Met Office forecaster Nicola Maxey.

“There will be plenty of sunshine around.

“In some places temperatures will be double the average for this time of year.”

With the increased sunshine, the public is being urged to be sensible and apply appropriate amounts of sun lotion.