It was a tale of two cities after weather flip-flopped in Brighton and Hove over the bank holiday weekend.
Hoping for fine weather to boost trade on what is traditionally one of the busiest weekends of the year, torrential downpours saw many people ditch their plans to visit the seaside on Saturday.
But, just hours later, the bank holiday blues were banished as the sun emerged with temperatures on Sunday reaching 22C in some areas of Sussex.
With the warm weather set to stay for the rest of the holiday, businesses were yesterday hopeful the rain will stay away at least for another 24 hours.
Fairground stall operator Edward Henderson, 34, set up camp on Brighton seafront for the bank holiday hoping to get a lot of trade.
However he said he had to close at 3pm on Saturday because of a lack of customers. Speaking yesterday Mr Henderson said: “It is a shame we had to close early but the weather is great today and as the day goes on we are getting more and more busy.”
Wesley Burtenshaw, 33, manager at the Bucket and Spade Beach cafe, said: “We all went home at 1.30pm on Saturday because the weather was so awful.
Normally we would be open until 7pm.
“Bank holidays are an important time for business because somany people visit Brighton, so it is good that the sun has come out today.”
It wasn’t just businesses that were affected by the bad weather.
Girls’ skateboarding lessons in The Level were cancelled as pools of water built up in the Brighton park.
Amanda Cleveland, 43, made the trip down to Brighton from south London on Sunday with her family.
Speaking yesterday, she said: “We were planning on coming down on Saturday and playing volleyball but we had to cancel due to the awfu lweather.
“We are happy to be here now though and the weather is brilliant.”
Elizabeth Kendell, 72, of Norfolk Square, Brighton, said Saturday’s rain had forced her to postpone a friend coming down from Exmouth.
She said: “Unfortunately, when the weather is bad here we do not get the same numbers as we would if the sun was shining.”
Darran Roberts, 45, of Montpelier Road, Brighton, said: “It is good to see people come down for bank holiday – Brighton is really at its best in the sunshine.”
Sue and Andy Thurlow, who came down from Kent for the weekend, said: “We like to come down to Brighton once a month, and always make the trip for the August Bank Holiday. We love the city because it is so diverse and it is great being by the sea.”
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