Police officers were forced to make arrests and break up ‘brawls’ between sunseekers who flocked to the beaches yesterday as the UK experienced its hottest day of the year so far.
Fights broke out in Bournemouth, Dorset, and Portobello, Scotland, as large groups gathered for a day in the sunshine.
In Bournemouth, where more than 100,000 people had visited for the day, a woman wearing a swimming costume was filmed as she was led away by the police as dozens of people watched on.
A woman wearing a swimming costume was led away by police on Bournemouth seafront yesterday
She shouted at the officers who arrested her in Bournemouth and escorted her to the car and claimed they were ‘racist’
As she is escorted into a police car the woman shouts at the officers: ‘You’re racist.’
Several officers can be seen in the video speaking to the woman on the beach by the pier before she is put in the car.
The video also shows a startling number of large groups gathered on the popular Dorset beach, joined by a substantial number of people in hi-vis jackets.
Several officers were seen speaking to the woman on Bournemouth beach before she was removed (left of the image)
A large group of people in hi-vis jackets were seen gathered on Bournemouth beach along with hundreds of sunseekers
Officers were interspersed with the large crowds who flocked to Bournemouth pier when the sun came out
The Sun reported a spokesperson for Dorset Police said officers had detained a boy and a girl, from Southampton and both 16, and they were given dispersal orders.
In Scotland, police were called to Portobello beach in Edinburgh after reports of a large disturbance yesterday afternoon.
Reports said that more than 10 police vans and cars showed up to manage the crowds.
Police were seen breaking up large groups of young people and removing alcohol from sunbathers.
The incident came as the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said there had been an increase in Covid-19 infections among people aged 20 to 40.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: ‘We received a report of a large disturbance on Portobello beach in Edinburgh around 3pm on Friday, 31 July, 2020.
‘Officers are currently in attendance, there are no reports of any injuries and enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances.’
Bags of alcohol were confiscated from sunseeking drinkers at Portobello Beach in Edinburgh by police officers yesterday afternoon
Police officers were seen walking along Portobello Beach near Edinburgh in the afternoon as temperatures soared across Britain
The police walked through members of the public who have flocked to Portobello Beach near Edinburgh yesterday
It is understood more than 10 officers still remain on the beach.
In Wales, beachgoers at Barry Island were crammed onto the beach while flouting social distancing guidelines.
Images shared with WalesOnline show long queues of people waiting to board trains home after a long day in the sunshine.
South Wales Police tweeted pictures of the chaos as hundreds of people made the most of the warm summer’s day.
Officers dealt with numerous incident, including six missing children which were reunited with their families and several bags of alcohol were seized from underage drinkers.
Around 20-25,000 people are reported to have visited the beach at Barry Island in one day.
Temperatures soared to 37.8C at London Heathrow on Friday afternoon, with even Leeds and Manchester reaching 88F (31C) and 79F (26C) in Newcastle and Wales.
Temperatures in England were mirroring those in Ibiza and the Costa del Sol, pleasing those whose holidays to Spain were cancelled, with the mercury now closing in on the all-time UK record of 101.7F (38.7C) set just last year.
Yesterday Brighton and Hove City Council said it was ‘concerned’ about visitor numbers in the city, urging people to not travel there because it was ‘impossible’ to maintain social distancing amid limited capacity on public transport.
Sussex Police said ‘Camber is now full’, asking daytrippers not to travel there and warning that high numbers of visitors have previously caused traffic jams that have led to problems for the emergency services trying to get in.