SOARING temperatures have hit Huddersfield as the town basks in the hottest spell of the year.

And things look set to warm up over coming days with forecasters predicting that temperatures will top 30ºC.

Long range charts promise even more Mediterranean conditions over coming weeks.

People used to finding wall-to-wall sunshine on foreign beaches basked as temperatures reached 29.6ºC (86ºF) in St Peter's Gardens in the centre of town yesterday.

Sara Doherty and her cousin Kelly Hallas, both 28, are self-confessed sun-seekers.

But their friend Victoria Hirst, 20, was not so happy.

"I don't mind it if I'm on a beach. But I don't like it here, having to get back to the office!" said the trainee insurance broker.

The three use their lunch hour to top up their tans.

Sara, a secretary, has travelled in Australia and is used to searing conditions.

"I love it. I can't get enough of it! I just use my lunch hours to sit here.

"At weekends I get up at the crack of dawn of sunbathe.

"I spent a year in Australia and with these temperatures we could be in Australia now!"

Insurance broker Kelly said Huddersfield was great in good weather.

"Everyone's happier. It's a better place to be. But it would be nice if we had more café bars to have a glass of wine outside."

Meanwhile Roger Lewis, 55, from Milnsbridge, tries to keep the air conditioning on in his car as much as possible.

"I'm loving the hot weather," he said. "I work nights so the hot weather is welcome. I always go to hot places for holidays."

He likes nothing more than sunbathing in his garden.

"I have been relaxing by my pond drinking excellent beer to cool down."

Mrs Stasia Brackenridge, and her daughter Sara, 13, of Birkby, were planning days away to get the best of the weather.

"It's a bit of a change. It would have been nice to have had it last week when we were in Ireland," said Mrs Brackenridge, who is in her 40s.

"We are planning more days out. We'll definitely try and get out. We'll go up to the Dales or somewhere like that and go walking."

Marc Brooke, 17, and Tiffany Schofield, 16, were enjoying ice creams in the shade, trying to keep cool.

Mark, a shop assistant, had taken the day off work to enjoy the sun.

Tiffany had a relaxing few days planned.

"I'm going to sunbathe all week," said the Greenhead College student.

Temperature records look set to be broken if the hot spell continues.

The all-time record for the UK is 37.1ºC.

That was reached on August 3, 1990, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

The coldest ever was on December 30, 1995, when Altnaharra in Scotland plummeted to -27ºC.

HEATWAVE FACTS

Suffering in the sun? Sunburn and those telltale "red lobster" marks can be treated with cider vingear.

Police in West Yorkshire have warned that thieves will enjoy the heatwave - by burgling houses where doors and windows are left open.

The AA claims that people leave cars locked up in the hot weather - forgetting that pets and often children are left inside! The AA has dealt with dozens of calls in recent days.

London at 32 deg C (90F) was the hottest place in Britain.

Bookmaker William Hill has cut the odds on temperatures reaching 100f from 10/1 to 7/2.