The hot weather continued to sizzle across the UK, bringing an early start to the weekend for many.

Sunbathers relax on Hunstanton beach in Norfolk (Joe Giddens/PA)
Sunbathers relax on Hunstanton beach in Norfolk (Joe Giddens/PA)
John Dunn, supervisor of the herbaceous department at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, carries out some pruning on a rhododendron niveum on display at the Scottish Rhododendron Festival (Jane Barlow/PA)
John Dunn prunes rhododendrons at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (Jane Barlow/PA)
Kai, four, plays in the sand on Hunstanton beach in Norfolk as the warm weather continues (Joe Giddens/PA)
Kai, four, plays in the sand on Hunstanton beach as the warm weather continues (Joe Giddens/PA)
Reggie, two, plays on the beach in Hunstanton (Joe Giddens/PA)
Reggie, two, is glad he brought his bucket and spade (Joe Giddens/PA)
Forrest the Humbold penguin (Andrew Milligan/PA)
Forrest the Humboldt penguin cools down at Blair Drummond Safari Park near Stirling (Andrew Milligan/PA)
A duck cools off in Canterbury (Gareth Fuller/PA)
And a duck makes a big splash in Canterbury’s Westgate Gardens (Gareth Fuller/PA)
Alan and Daphne Smith in Herne Bay (Gareth Fuller/PA)
Alan and Daphne Smith at their beach hut in Herne Bay (Gareth Fuller/PA)
Caroline Ciuba in Greenwich Park (Victoria Jones/PA)
Caroline Ciuba walks through an avenue of blossom trees in London’s Greenwich Park (Victoria Jones/PA)
Westgate Gardens in Canterbury (Gareth Fuller/PA)
A woman is lost in a good book in Canterbury’s Westgate Gardens (Gareth Fuller/PA)