Essex Seaside Resorts Cash In

Scores of us have flocked to the coast as temperatures here are hotter than Egypt.

The mercury peaked at 30C (86F) on Saturday, making it not only the hottest day recorded in October, but the third hottest of 2011.

Traffic was heavy across Essex as sunseekers packed their buckets and spades and headed towards holiday hot-spots.

Trafficlink communications manager Andrea Day said: ''Normally we would see this kind of traffic on a bank holiday weekend or a sunny weekend during the summer, so to see it at this time of year is really quite unusual.''

One of the longest queues was heading towards Southend, with vehicles stretching for 15 miles.

Hotels.com said it had experienced a 983% rise in searches to top British seaside destinations including Southend.