SUNBATHERS in Sussex were treated to the hottest temperatures in the country yesterday.

Thousands of beach revellers enjoyed the sunshine as the blistering Easter continued, with temperatures higher than Barcelona, Tenerife and Ibiza.

Brighton Palace Pier boss Anne Ackord said the attraction drew a quarter of a million people over the weekend as travellers from far and wide headed to the seaside.

She said: “Long may the good weather continue.

“We have been very busy which means the whole of Brighton has been very busy.

“This is good for the city, which needed bit of luck after the recent rail disruption.”

Twins Amanda and Melanie Sherrin were celebrating their 52nd birthday on the pier before heading to The Regency for a bite to eat.

Amanda, who was taking a quick break on the pier’s benches, said: “We wouldn’t mind being 21 again.

“We’re from Dorset and this is our first time in Brighton.

“It’s beautiful and smashing – a lot busier than Dorset though.”

Temperatures in the county were the hottest in the country.

The mercury in Wiggonholt near Pulborough hit 24.3C yesterday afternoon, the hottest place in England.

That was just one degree below the highest Easter Sunday temperature recorded – in 2011 a high of 25.3C was recorded in the Solent.

Elizabeth Reidenbaugh, 23, lives in Pennsylvania, US, but spent the day visiting her long-term Horsham boyfriend, German Aseguin, 25.

The couple were soaking up the sun from the pebbles on Brighton beach and she said: “I thought it was supposed to be a lot colder than this, I would have brought some shorts with me if I had known.

“We came to Brighton as we love the seaside more than the city, especially when there’s lovely weather to enjoy.”

One street entertainer on Brighton seafront, who was inside a giant panda costume, said he was struggling in the heat.

The man gave his name as “Money, Money, Money” and said he had been in the costume for six hours without a break.

Not everyone was struggling in the heat, however.

Australians Isobel Clark, 25, and Tegan Speers, 28, described the weather as “mild”.

Isobel, who was tucking into a giant candy floss with her friend, said: “Brighton’s beaches are much more busy than ones where we are from.

“We do have fish and chips though.

“We’re in London at the moment but we’ve come down for the day – we’re loving it.”

Greg and Dawn Dutfield, both 56, spent the afternoon soaking up the sun from the Palace Pier’s deckchairs.

Dawn said: “We travelled down to the seaside for the hot weather.

“We spent some time walking around The Lanes shopping and now we’re chilling out.”

Met Office forecaster Marco Petagna explained why the temperatures have been so high.

He said “We have got high pressure moving at the moment giving most of the UK a lot of fine weather, this combined with the fact that the high pressure has dominated for the past few days is allowing the temperatures to heat and build.

“It is allowing some record breaking temperatures to be set today and potentially tomorrow as we are looking at a high of 25C or 26C.”

He also suggested that the temperatures may also be helped by the fact that Easter has fallen a little later in the calendar this year.

He said: “The later in the year that Easter falls, the higher the sun is in the sky and the stronger it is.”

As most people basked in Easter sunshine, firefighters were tackling a large wildfire on Yorkshire’s famous Ilkley Moor.

A helicopter was brought in on Sunday to drop tonnes of water on to the smouldering moorland just to the south of the town.

More than 100 firefighters were involved in the operation in sweltering conditions at its height on Saturday afternoon.