TOURIST destinations were today bracing themselves for a bumper weekend as North Yorkshire schools broke up for the summer and the good weather continued unabated.

Though schoolchildren in York and East Yorkshire still have a few more days to go, those in North Yorkshire finally got the chance to enjoy the long summer days as they finished this afternoon for the holidays.

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of York Tourism Bureau, said demand was so great that people were being turned away because there was no room for them to stay in the city.

She said: "It would be difficult to top last weekend, but we have had a lot of inquiries about accommodation and a lot of people staying.

"We are expecting a busy weekend but it has been busy for the last couple of weeks as Scottish schools have already broken up.

"But we would be delighted to have more accommodation so more people can stay."

But the message from the meteorological experts is to make hay while the sun shines.

Though this weekend, particularly Saturday, should be sunny and warm, we look set next week to return to the misery of wet weather.

A spokeswoman for PA Weather said it was likely to cloud up on Sunday, though remain dry, but next week would herald the start of a more unsettled period.

Meanwhile airports across the country were preparing for the first major weekend of the summer holidays with more than a million passengers expected to fly in and out of Britain over the next two days.

Gatwick and Heathrow reported "slight" increases on figures from last year but predicted that next weekend would provide the real threat to previous record numbers.