Hoorah! Summer has arrived!

August has kicked off to a promising start, even if July was a bit of a letdown with the weather. However, the weatherman still warns us to keep an umbrella in reach.

After swapping our T-shirts for jumpers, not using sunscreen for the past few weeks and even seeing Autumn/Winter 2011 clothes pop up in shop windows, we have finally enjoyed some much needed heat over the weekend and more is on its way.

So far we have had 26c, with the promise of up to 28c (82f) in some areas of Britain in the coming days.

Millions of Britons took advantage of the hot spell and headed to British beaches over the weekend, to paddle in the sea and soak up the sun. Some areas saw their car parks full by Sunday morning and hotels also had “no vacancies” in their windows.

However, we all know what the weather is like in Britain and good things have to come to an end. The hot spell will be short lived and we could see thunderstorms in many areas, along with swarms of flying ants, forecasters have warned.

“In the next few days the conditions are likely to set off thunderstorms just about anywhere in the country. That will herald low temperatures for most parts. People should make the most of the weather while they can”, said Andy Bodenham, Met Office forecaster.

Bournemouth’s seven miles of beaches was full of deck chairs on Sunday.

“It’s glorious today. The beach is really busy and I expect people have come because they don’t know if the warm weather will last”, said Charles Baker, 36, from Hordle, Hampshire, who was visiting Bournemouth with his partner Aileen Simpson and one-year-old daughter Alice.

Unsettled weather is said to return to most areas by the end of this week, where temperatures are expected to slide back to the 70s. It’s still expected to be muggy and people without air conditioning at home may feel uncomfortable, especially at night time.

The muggy conditions has already encouraged millions of mating flying ants, the phenomenon has been described by pest control experts as “the biggest annual one-night stand in the UK”.

Managing director of Cleankill, Paul Bates said the insects don’t bite or sting people, he explains “the problem normally disappears on its own within a few hours”. He added that people shouldn’t waste their money on calling someone out to eradicate them.