Sun lovers were making the most of what could be the last day in a spell of warmer dry weather across the UK on Sunday.

Temperatures were predicted to reach as high as 27C, but weather warnings for rain and thunderstorms threatened to put a dampener on the end of the weekend.

A Met Office meteorologist warned the storms might “band together” in areas across the UK, resulting in intense bursts of lightning and heavy rainfall.

Pets were exercised early on New Brighton beach on the Wirral, Merseyside, while further south in Gloucestershire, top horses were put through their paces on day five of the Badminton Horse Trials.

Meanwhile, bowler hats provided some useful shade when the Duke of Edinburgh attended the Combined Cavalry Old Comrades Association’s annual parade and memorial service, in Hyde Park, London.