A HEATWAVE is set to provide another boost to Weymouth businesses after the town centre enjoyed its busiest day for a ‘long time.’

Traders have hailed Saturday as the year’s busiest day in the town so far and are prepared for things to only get better with a mini-heatwave set to hit from today.

Temperatures are expected to be as high as 22 degrees Celsius today with the mercury set to continue to rise in to tomorrow.

The Met Office has issued a health warning with a 60 percent chance of heatwave conditions in the South West this week.

Saturday’s sunny weather alongside Out Loud Festival and the fast approaching school summer holidays meant a busy weekend in the town.

Chairman of the Weymouth BID and manager at the William Henry pub Steve Newstead was blown away by how busy the town was.

He said: “It was really really busy, it was amazing really.

“I couldn’t see the pavement on Great George Street, it was the busiest I’ve seen it for a long time.”

Mr Newstead now said he hoped the town could make the most of the situation after a positive start to the summer.

He said: “I just hope we can really capitalise on it.

“It’s great to see some life in the town. I can really see the amount of people in the town progressing with some of the things going forward such as Wey Fest and with the carnival definitely being on.”

Mr Newstead also said that The William Henry reported a five percent increase in sales on the same time last year.

General Manager of the Electric Palace at Alexandra Gardens Ross Carrington is also hopeful for the summer ahead after a steady start to the summer season.

He said: “We’re definitely getting busier each weekend. We’re expecting to beat last year’s figures.”

Owner and manager of Rossi’s Ices Fulvio Figlioni believes that as long as the weather is good, business will be good in the town.

He said: “It’s all Weymouth really needs, for the weather to look up. People are happy if the weather is good and they’re happy to spend money.

“We’ve been happily busy enough for our needs since we opened. We’re always optimistic which is part and parcel of business.”

The Met Office has issued warnings to the very young, very old and those with chronic disease as heatwaves can be dangerous to these groups.