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Aviemore, Inverness, experiences hottest day of the year at 26.9C Just six days ago the area was blanketed in snow Elsewhere mercury reached 25C in much of England, sending sunworshippers into parks and onto beaches London is hotter than Rome, Athens and Istanbul Met Office say sunny spells will carry through into weekend throughout UK

By Chris Parsons

PUBLISHED: 09:00 EST, 23 May 2012 | UPDATED: 05:04 EST, 24 May 2012

Britain continued to bask in gloriously sunny temperatures yesterday, as forecasters predicted that the long-overdue summery spell is set to continue throughout the weekend in the UK.

After Tuesday's temperatures of almost 27C in parts of England set the standard for the hottest day of the year, the mercury rose again as thousands flocked to beaches, parks and gardens.

The record for the warmest day of 2012 was again smashed in, of all places, Scotland, as residents in Aviemore, Invernesshire enjoyed a tropical heat of 26.9C.

The hottest temperature in the UK posted north of the border made Aviemore hotter than Ibiza yesterday, as temperatures held firm.

Hottest place in the UK: Children play in Loch Morlich, near, Aviemore, where temperatures reached 26.9C yesterday

Cooling down: Rhianna Mallia, 18 and Louise Dougherty, 21, sit in the sun in Aviemore - which registered the hottest temperature in the UK in 2012

From snow to sun: A train passes through Aviemore on May 23 just a week after the area was blanketed in snow. Temperatures have soared more than 25 degrees in just six days

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UK weather forecast: Scotland posts hottest day of the year and at 27C it's warmer than Ibiza

ST. BARTHELEMY--(Marketwire -04/26/12)- Will the sun and crowds around Cap Ferrat, Paloma Plage and Ibiza be too hot and heavy this summer? Then think Caribbean where everything that's laid out for the stars becomes more affordable in the summer, thanks to the Caribbean's premier full-service villa rental company, WIMCO Villas.

New this summer and fall are a range of Summer Travel Specials for WIMCO's collection of private villas in the French Caribbean, including complimentary rental cars with each villa rental, free nights in select villas, and other treats.

On the island of St. Barts, WIMCO represents 265 private villas, and this summer it will provide a free rental car for a week, plus exclusive dining deals, and 2 for 1 massage deals with Ligne St. Barth, the premier spa service company on the island. On St. Martin, WIMCO offers a free night with every 7 night reservation in over 40 private villas. Guests will also enjoy arrival gifts. Details are available on WIMCO's Summer Travel Specials page or at 1-401-849-8012.

"We've assembled an exciting list of exclusive offers and value-added programs," says WIMCO's president Stiles Bennet. "The secret of the Caribbean's allure as a summer vacation destination is that off-season pricing applies -- about 35% lower than winter pricing -- and the temperatures stay in the mid 80s, with mild humidity, while the temperatures along the coasts of the US and Europe soar into the 90s. Islands like St. Barts also arrange concerts and culinary events as an added enticement to visit during the summer. Another plus is that the Caribbean's world famous beaches, coral reefs, and popular villas and hotels are largely deserted during the summer months... more space, privacy and value for the savvy traveler."

About WIMCO VillasRecently featured on The Today Show, WIMCO Villas is an award-winning luxury villa rental company, providing access to some of the world's most beautiful and exceptional private villas, along with concierge travel services before, during and after the vacation. WIMCO has received numerous accolades including Cond Nast Traveler magazine's "Best Presented Villas," best luxury villa company by Travel & Leisure magazine, FORTUNE magazine's "Top Villas Companies in the World," and FORBES "Best of the Web."

WIMCO Villas' agents have intimate knowledge of the villas in their portfolio, and can tailor make a villa vacation to suit each client's needs, whether it be arranging for private chefs, yoga instructors, yacht charters or simply a restaurant reservation. WIMCO represents villas on St. Barthelemy and 12 other Caribbean islands, Europe, Hawaii and Nantucket, and publishes the Vendome Guide series of villa vacation guides. For additional information please call 800-449-1553. Inquiries can be sent via email to info@wimco.com

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Caribbean Summer Travel Specials From WIMCO, Gorgeous Private Villas and Deserted White Sand Beaches Await

By Brian Viner

PUBLISHED: 20:19 EST, 11 March 2012 | UPDATED: 05:21 EST, 12 March 2012

Not content with millions of visitors due to arrive for the Queens Diamond Jubilee and the Olympic Games, the tourist boards of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are doing their best to entice us all to take our holidays here by knocking overseas destinations as well as lauding our own in a 5million advertising campaign.

The four domestic tourist boards each have some of their most splendid wares on show - including the Lake District, the Western Highlands, Anglesey and the Giants Causeway - which are showcased in the television commercial spearheading the campaign.

It has been running since last Thursday and features Stephen Fry, Julie Walters, the Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint and Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbeys Lady Mary Crawley), all taking turns to rhapsodise about Britain and undermine the Algarve, the Med, Corfu, even Australia.

Irritating: Stephen Fry has become unshakeable from our lives

Why on earth would anyone want to go abroad in 2012? asks Fry, to which some might say, to avoid Stephen Fry, the tweedy Tweeter having become as ubiquitous and unshakeable in our national life as the common cold.

Lets just hope that he and the rest of the patriotic quartet have forsworn overseas holidays this year as part of their contract. Commercials like these are embarrassments waiting to happen - as when a celebrity chef becomes the face of one supermarket chain, only to be spotted buying his cherry tomatoes from another.

Why go all the way to Bondi when you can come here to Bridlington? asks Grint, a question which will have the folk at Tourism Australia laughing into their didgeridoos. If Grint, worth an estimated 24million after playing Ron Weasley for all those years, takes his hols on the east coast of Yorkshire this summer, then Im Lord Voldemort.

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BRIAN VINER says he doesn't need smug (and jet-setting) celebs to tell him Bridlington is better than Bondi

Mar 12 2012

Sun in Strathclyde Country Park Image 2

SCOTLAND will be hotter than Ibiza this week, thanks to an exceptional spring sizzler.

Parts of the country enjoyed a balmy weekend and more long, sunny spells are forecast for the days ahead.

Sun-lovers in the east of the country rushed to beaches and parks yesterday as the temperature nudged 18C in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire.

And forecasters believe that mark which beats average highs in July could be matched over the next few days.

Meanwhile, holidaymakers in Ibiza can expect maximum temperatures of just 16C.

Eastern and central parts of Scotland will enjoy the best of the sunshine.

The west was cooler at 11C yesterday, and stubborn clouds and drizzle at times mean temperatures here will peak at 12-13C this week but thats still above the average for this time of year.

The warm spell is expected to last until at least Friday, when showers will move in.

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'Exceptional' warm weather set to continue as Scotland records higher temperatures than Ibiza

MICHELLE WRANIK

Getty

MODESTY BATHE: An Iranian woman emerges from the water after riding a jetski at Kish Island.

As the scorching rays of the Middle Eastern sun bore down, I plunged into the sea, desperately happy to feel cool water against my skin.

I had been wrapped in a hijab all day in 45-degree heat. A dip at the beach offered the only respite.

But in the Islamic Republic of Iran, women must not show their hair or skin, let alone wear bikinis in public. A woman caught wearing a miniskirt could be sentenced to 50 lashes. Could wearing a bikini land me in jail?

With its white-sand beaches, tax-free shopping and luxury hotels, Kish Island is the Iranian equivalent of Hawaii or Bali. It's well known for being more relaxed than the mainland and is popular with holidaying Persians.

Iranian women can be a bit more carefree, mingling with the opposite sex, riding jet skis and walking on the beach with their headscarves loosened and trousers rolled up. But this island is no Ibiza. The strict laws of the Islamic regime apply.

Dancing is forbidden, as I discovered while watching a live Farsi band at a restaurant. Iranians make do with clapping their hands to the music.

Though beachside touts offered me bootleg booze in whispered hisses ("Absolut vodka? Johnnie Walker?"), alcohol is otherwise illegal, meaning no pina coladas by the pool. And while the island is surrounded by calm beaches fringed by swaying palm trees, men and women are forbidden to swim together. A bikini in public? It seemed unlikely.

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From hijab to skimpy bikini