Hottest day of the year to hit this weekend?

PA

Despite severe gales and rain battering the west of the country this morning, leading to severe weather warnings in top staycation spots like Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Wales, forecasters are predicting a hot and sunny weekend - which could even see the hottest day of the year so far.

Around a week's worth of rain fell in the first few hours of today, soaking summer holiday hotspots.

According to the Daily Mail, gale force winds of up to 60mph hit the coastline, although the east seemed to escape the Atlantic storm.

A holiday beach on Dorset's Jurassic Coast was even sealed off after thousands of tons of rock crashed down on to the sand.

According to the BBC, Natural England has closed Monmouth Beach, west of Lyme Regis, after the heavy rain caused the series of rock falls.

It said spring tides and unsettled weather expected towards the end of the week could cause further problems and warning signs could be washed away.

The beach is about 12 miles from Burton Bradstock, where a 22-year-old woman died in a landslip in July.

Holidaymakers have also been warned to stay away from the base of other cliffs along the Jurassic Coast, as it is one of the most unstable coastlines in the world.

But the bright side is the up and coming mini heatwave, which could see temperatures hit 31C (90F) in the south east, a figure that would make it the hottest day of the year.

The rest of the country is likely to enjoy balmy temps of up to 27C.

Dan Williams from the Met Office told Aol Travel: "The south east of the UK could see some very warm weather over the weekend as warm air from the near continent moves up.

"This could see temperatures of 29-31C on Saturday, which could rival the hottest temperature recorded so far this year of 30.7C at St James's Park in London on 25 July.

"Sunday will be similarly warm, perhaps a touch cooler than Saturday but still very warm in those south eastern areas. Elsewhere temperatures will generally range from low to mid 20s."

Head to one of these beaches to make the most of the rays...

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