Sunniest hotspot in the UK revealed – it has some of the country’s best beaches

THE UK’s sunniest holiday destination has been revealed with more people opting to stay in the UK this summer.

The cost of foreign trips continues to rise, meaning staycations are becoming an increasingly popular option for Brits.

2

Luckily, they can find plenty of sunny spots in the UK throughout the summer months – as long as they know where to look.

Researchers at Cofton Holidays have analysed thousands of Met Office weather records on ‘sunshine hours’ and average yearly temperatures over the past decade.

They have since revealed the UK’s most reliably warm places for a summer break.

From their analysis, they found that South Devon offers holidaymakers the best combination of hot and sunny weather overall.

Torbay in South Devon has an average of 1737.19 sunny hours per year, while Devon as a county overall averages 1665.49. The area has average highs of 14.92C throughout the year.

South Devon is home to some beautiful towns, including the village of East Portlemouth, which was recently compared to the Mediterranean.

Other towns in Devon have been likened to more exotic locations too, including Dartmouth, which one person said was almost like visiting a Greek island.

One of the beaches in the county has stunning stretches of pink sand.

In recent years, day-trippers have taken to TripAdvisor to rave about the colourful shores at Paignton.

Elsewhere, Barricane Beach in Woolacombe is a favourite among locals and has even been declared a site of “special interest”.

A lot of people are drawn to the small bay by its on-site cafe that not only serves sandwiches and cakes during the day, but amazing Sri Lankan curries in the evenings.

Locals and visitors alike turn up during the summer months to sit on the beach with a bowl of delicious curry, while watching the deep orange sunsets that the west coast is often treated to.

Meanwhile, Blackpool Sands in Devon was listed as the best in the UK by Conde Nast Traveller.

It has won awards over the years for its cleanliness, with the beach cleaned daily and has some of the clearest water.

Chris Jeffery, Director at Cofton Holidays, said: “South Devon is consistently the best UK holiday destination for reliably warm and sunny weather.”

For those searching for heat rather than just sunshine, London was named as the hottest UK destination, with average high temperatures of 15.75C.

Meanwhile, Brighton is the sunniest overall with 1891.75 hours of sunshine, although average high temperatures reach just 14.4C.

Bristol, Bath, and Cornwall also scored highly for reliably hot weather in the study.

Meanwhile, this is the sunniest destination in Europe.

And this holiday destination gets the most hours of sunlight in the continent.

2