Ice cream parlours were packed and sunbathers jostled for prime locations on beaches and in parks as parts of Scotland experienced their hottest day of the year so far.
Temperatures soared as high as 25C yesterday and forecasters are confident the glorious weather could continue well into next week.
While cafes expected the heatwave to boost sales, many were taken aback by just how popular they found themselves with visitors eager to cool down.
A staff member at Strachan’s in Inverurie said: “It’s been really busy, with queues out the door.
“It’s usually only during the school holidays that we get so many customers.”
Sheila Gray, who owns Fochabers Ice Cream Parlour, added: “We’ve been exceptionally busy over the weekend and we expect the same this week with the scorching weather.
“I think because the last three summers have been full of rain, this is a nice change and customers will want to buy more ice cream to make use of the unusually good weather.”
And Tracy Longmore from Mieles Lossiemouth said: “We’re currently non-stop making ice cream to cope with the busy week.”
The Met Office recorded one of the lowest temperatures of the day, 15C, in Stonehaven but even this failed to stop the sunseekers.
Iona Barney from the town’s Aunt Betty’s ice cream shop said: “We had queues out the door all the way down the street at the weekend, and today it’s been really busy for a weekday.”
While the temperatures were not much higher in nearby Aberdeen, the city’s popular beachfront stop-offs were well prepared for the influx of visitors.
A spokesman for the Inversnecky Cafe said: “We knew this good weather was coming, so we are all organised with extra staff.
“We are all stocked up with ice cream for customers – and ice cream on top for our staff, of course.”
It was a remarkably dry day as well – the highest volume of rainfall was experienced in Wick, where just 0.2mm fell from the sky over the course of the day.
Temperatures are expected to continue to increase over the remainder of the week – with a brief lull on Thursday caused by a band of cloud – before staying warm and sunny into the first days of July.
