The promenade at Felixstowe was busy today as families made the most of the first official day of the Easter holidays.

Children wrapped up against the spring breeze to enjoy the sunshine at the seaside resort.

The sun also brought the crowds out in Christchurch Park, Ipswich where children were scooting and cycling around the paths.

However, the outlook for the long weekend makes for grim reading.

Weatherquest, based in Norwich’s University of East Anglia, predict that the strong winds that swept the country over the past few days will die down slightly, but rain will dampen our spirits.

Chris Bell, from Weatherquest, said: “This coming Saturday’s high of between eight to 10C is possibly the best of the weather for the long weekend despite being cooler than average.

“Easter Sunday and bank holiday Monday will have highs of around 8 to 9C.”

Elsewhere in Europe the weather forecast is also looking gloomy for Germany, France and much of northern Europe with a high risk of rain and a low chance of sunshine over the bank holiday weekend.