Sunseekers are being told to avoid almost 20 beaches in England which are packed with people trying to cool off during a potentially record-breaking Saharan heatwave that could see temperatures of almost 40C.
By midday the Coastguard had warned people to stay safe on the beach after rescue teams responded to 70 call-outs across the UK, while police and council officers patrolled busy seaside destinations.
With an amber heatwave alert in place, sunseekers began arriving as early as 3am at Bournemouth beach to bag the best spots, locals claimed.
Bournemouth Council's Beach Check app was showing red for 20 of 24 beaches, meaning "avoid" as social distancing was not possible to curb the spread of coronavirus because they were so crowded.
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