It was quite a nice day, really

THE EMUS at Drusillas Zoo near Seaford, East Sussex, were being hosed down with cool water yesterday as mercury levels hit 21C in the south and roads to the coast became clogged with traffic, writes Jane Hughes.

The fine bank holiday weather looked set to continue over most of the country today although rain is forecast to move in from the west later and Monday looks more unsettled.

But the holiday atmosphere at many resorts and events around the country was marred by a series of incidents.

At the Reading Festival in Berkshire, police were investigating an allegation of serious sexual assault on a 18-year-old woman. More than 50,000 music fans were expected to attend the festival, headlined by Blur, Catatonia and the Chemical Brothers, and by last night more than 25 people have been arrested, mainly for possession of cannabis.

In Hampshire, a driver was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after a teenage girl was flung from his car when it span out of control. The girl, who broke an arm, and an 18-year-old passenger were taken to Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey.

In north-west Scotland, the mountain search for Richard Dimbleby, an elderly hillwalker from Berkshire who disappeared on Thursday, was intensified.

In Sussex, hundreds of day-trippers flocked to Brighton and Hove and keen sunbathers were on the beach in Eastbourne by 8am. Elvis Presley fans gathered for a convention in Worthing, West Sussex, and roads to the the new celebrity hotspot of West Wittering were packed.

Coastguards in Dorset warned about the dangers of inflatable dinghies after they saved a small child whose inflatable was swept out to sea off packed Studland beach near Swanage.

Tourists with a sense of adventure headed for north Cornwall after reports last week that a 15ft great white shark had been spotted off the coast.