Our pick of the best British beaches

The UK is set to see temperatures of up to 34C this Friday, following highs of 28 and 29 degrees earlier this week.

The “rare” surge in June temperatures has caused the Met Office to issue a three-day heat alert, covering parts of England from midnight on Friday until midnight on Sunday.

So, British beaches it is. Thankfully, our fair isle has plenty of decent ones – more Blue Flag beaches than Cyprus, even.

There’s nowhere quite like a British beach; in all their sticks-of-rock, wind-in-the-hair, sandy-sandwich glory.

Our little island has plenty of great options found along its every coast – here, The Independent’s travel desk praises our favourite stretches of sand across the country.

Sunny Sands, Folkestone, Kent

Folkestone – perhaps best known for its proximity to the “Chunnel” – may seem like an odd inclusion in the best beach stakes. But its Sunny Sands beach is the place I’m most keenly anticipating returning to, for several reasons. First up, it’s extremely convenient when travelling from London – a swift 52 minutes on the high-speed Southeastern train service from St Pancras. Secondly, it has a smashing harbour arm, replete with food and drink stalls (including a champagne bar operating out of a lighthouse). And thirdly, it’s one of the few spots along the Kent coast that boasts an actual sand, rather than pebble, beach. There’s also a pebble beach on hand, if that’s more your thing, stretching who-knows-how-far and enlivened with a variety of vibrant public artworks, added to every three years during the Folkestone Triennial. Helen Coffey

Oddicombe, Torquay, Devon

Whenever I’m asked to pick my favourite beach, my answer is swift and certain: Oddicombe in south Devon. My answer largely stems from pure nostalgia – this is the beach we would go to most summers when I was a kid, during holidays to visit my dad’s family in Torquay. With a soft shingle beach, striking red cliffs (that are perpetually falling into the sea), cute kiosks to buy snacks, inflatables and buckets and spades, and even a cliff railway, it is the epitome of everything I want from a great British beach. HC

Whitby Beach, Whitby, Yorkshire

There are plenty of reasons to visit Whitby besides its long stretches of magnificent sand and shingle beach. The perfect fish and chips…