Hot weather marred by water deaths
The death of a man who drowned as he rescued two children from the sea was one of a number of water-related tragedies as temperatures soared this weekend.
Most of the British Isles was bathed in scorching temperatures which reached 27C (80.6F) in places on Sunday, but forecasters are predicting a gradual cooling during the week to come - culminating in a substantially cooler Jubilee bank holiday weekend.
The 25-year-old who drowned off West Wittering beach, near Chichester, West Sussex, had gone to the assistance of two youngsters who were playing in a rubber ring, Sussex Police said.
The news came as a man who died after getting into difficulty near a waterfall in a city park was named by police.
Nicholas Smith, 23, was pulled from the water in Linn Park near Simshill on the southside of Glasgow, and died later in hospital.
In a further incident, a 22-year-old man died after getting into difficulty while swimming with friends at a disused quarry at Ballykelly, near Monasterevin, Co Kildare. His body was recovered by the Garda Sub Aqua Unit on Saturday evening.
Meanwhile, in the Clyde estuary, two children were rescued after floating away from Ardmore Point near Helensburgh on a lilo. Clyde Coastguard said that Helensburgh Lifeboat went to the scene after the alarm was raised at around 6.25pm and took the children to safety.
The tragedies followed the death of a 15-year-old boy, named locally as Hussain Mohammed, who drowned when he jumped from a bridge into the River Thames in Oxford on Friday night. His death prompted warnings about the dangers of cooling off in rivers.
The highest temperatures on Sunday were recorded in the South East and the west of England as well as the north-west of Scotland. By mid-afternoon, Wisley in Surrey, had the highest temperature at 27.4C (81.3F). Another hot-spot was Porthmadog, in north Wales, which reached 26.9C (80.4F).
Average maximum temperatures for England in May are 14C to 17C (57.2F to 62.6F), while Scotland would normally be between 13C and 15C (55.4F to 59F). Last week was the driest since the end of March, according to the Environment Agency.
