TEMPERATURES hit the 30s in York today - and holidaymakers, day-trippers and residents were determined to make the most of it.

The city had a Continental feel, with pavement cafes packed, and the riverside bars on Kings Staith had crowded terraces, with customers diving for shade under huge umbrellas.

Others sat and sunbathed on the grass in Museum Gardens, or near the Millennium Bridge.

Customers buying ices from Alice Dungey at the Two Hoots ice cream boat near the bridge included Ian Goodall and Frank Woolford,from Leeds, who had earlier been fishing in the river.

The grass looked parched in the Museum Gardens and on the mound of Clifford's Tower after weeks without much significant rainfall.

The temperature at RAF Topcliffe, north of York, reached 30C, or 86F, by 2pm today, and might rise a little higher by late afternoon.