Sun-seekers lapped up Huddersfield’s hottest day of the year so far as the Sunday afternoon temperature nudged into the mid 70s.

Examiner weatherman Paul Stevens saw the mercury reach a whopping 23.1C (73.5F) enough to send ice creams into meltdown – and leave family pets dog tired.

Families headed out to parks, beer gardens and outdoor attractions as brilliant weather across the weekend brought an early taste of summer.

And the smell of barbecues filled the air as supermarket shelves were cleared of burgers, sausages and salad.

Cooling off: Rachel Gosling and Steve Nash enjoy an ice cream in Holmfirth on the town's hottest day of the year.

Paul, of Salendine Nook, described Sunday’s temperatures as “scorchio” and said Monday could be pretty similar – as long as the cloud stayed away.

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He said a south easterly wind was bringing the warm air from Spain and North Africa but predicted it would only stick around until Wednesday.

“It’s been a fabulous weekend with temperatures almost 10 degrees higher than a week ago and well above the 14C average maximum for May,” he said.

The heat is too much for this pooch in Holmfirth on the town's hottest day of the year.

“We have had a very cool spring up until now but a good couple of days have made up for that, and it’s coincided nicely with the weekend.”

Paul said after Wednesday, while it would remain dry, temperatures would slip back to near normal and would stay like that for the foreseeable future.

He said the “brief mini heatwave” would last four days and the rest of the month looked cooler.

The summer as a whole is also looking distinctly “average” but punctuated with four or five “mini heatwaves” to keep the spirits up.

But just nine days ago Scapegoat Hill was covered in snow - watch below!

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