This is the moment crowds of half term holidaymakers were left mystified after a packed beach was suddenly covered in thick – FOG.
Hundreds of sun-seekers who had flocked to the coast were literally left under a cloud when the fog floated in from the sea.
Families in St Ives, Cornwall, had been expecting wall-to-wall sunshine and scorching temperatures.
But they were left in the shade by a thick sea fog that crept in from the Atlantic and completely blocked out the sun for more than four hours.
A Met Office spokesman said the freak conditions were caused by the difference in temperature between the cold sea and sun-warmed land.
He said: ”Those sunbathers on the beach might not be wearing much, but they would actually be rather chilly as a fog like this would block out most of the sun’s warmth.
”What we have here is a thick sea fog. It is caused when warm moist air comes into contact with the cold sea and condenses to form cloud-like fog.
”It would most likely have been limited just to the coast, so if the sunbathers had travelled half-a-mile inland they would probably have been basking in glorious sunshine.”