SCARBOROUGH, like much of the country, has been having a pretty wild, wet winter.

Just ask the Humboldt penguins at the town’s Sea life centre. They have been put on anti-depressants because they are said to be so fed-up with the relentless rain and wind.

There has been the odd day of good weather. Press photographer Garry Atkinson was in luck when he headed to Scarborough recently for a day out with his wife, Alison.

Sunday, February 2, was a rare fine day. “It was chilly and a bit blustery, but the sky was blue and there was a lovely low winter sun,” Garry says.

This made a perfect opportunity for Garry to capture a series of beautiful photographs showing Scarborough at its out-of-season best.

Walkers wrapped up warm were parading along the Marine Drive walk, but the beaches were almost deserted, apart from an occasional hardy figure walking a dog.

“It is interesting how the character of the place changes with the seasons,” Garry says. “I got one photograph of the castle overlooking South Bay, and two men and a dog were the only people on the beach.”

In season, the lobster pots and other fishermen’s equipment stacked on the harbour wall wouldn’t have been there either, Garry believes. “It is just a completely different atmosphere at this time of year.”

If you plan on going up to Scarborough next weekend to get a bit of that out-of-season atmosphere… well, you may or may not be as lucky with the weather as Garry was.

According to the Met Office, the outlook for tomorrow in Yorkshire is wet and windy again. Later in the week it will be drier and brighter in our part of the world, despite heavy and persistent rain further south. But there will be showery spells aplenty.

Don’t say you weren’t warned…