ACCORDING to our national press, the south is alone in enjoying the first decent spell of hot weather since an unseasonably warm spring.

Obviously, the journalists didn’t bother with a return ticket to North Yorkshire, because as our pictures show, their impression of the frozen north is as consistently unreliable as most days’ weather forecasts.

It was blistering in Scarborough on Sunday, as the mini-heatwave saw out a disappointing July and heralded in the traditional high season of August.

Ideal weather then for Lifeboat Day, where rock’n’roll dancers worked up a sweat under the midday sun.

Further along, the beach was packed, donkeys and ice cream were in great demand and hardier souls even braved the chilly waters of the North Sea. It was the same story along the coast up to Sandsend. But there, unusually high waves were welcomed by these youngsters, who enjoyed a rare drenching on the prom as they tried to cool down.

With schools out, parents will be praying for the fine weather to continue and although storms rumbled for some yesterday, with more expected this afternoon, the outlook remains promising into the weekend.

But this is Britain and as George II complained when he moved here: “Three fine days and a thunderstorm.”

This warm spell will almost certainly go the same way. Being an island race, our heat waves are usually short lived, with cold fronts piling in from the Atlantic to dissipate the hot, humid air.

And if there is enough moisture in the upper atmosphere, cumulus clouds boil up and thunderstorms follow.

It’s not always the case, though. In 2006 we had the warmest July on record with fine, unbroken sunshine. Three years earlier, Azores highs were dominant for months, and who could forget the heady days of 1976, the most perfect summer some of us will ever see?

We may yet be lucky, but if the heatwave does end with rainfall by the bucket load, at least gardeners will be happy after near-drought conditions for much of the year.

And the kids will again have an excuse to lock themselves in their bedrooms.