Somerset in Pictures: Sunshine and sporting success

People are seen walking into the main entrance of Weston Pier on a sunny day with blue skies overhead.Emma Hallett/BBC

Weston Pier was busy as people headed to the coast to enjoy the sunshine this week

Steve Mellen
BBC News, Somerset

Not everyone likes hot days, but for our coastal resorts and visitor attractions this sunny week has been a great time to welcome visitors.

They have been getting their buckets and spades out from Weston down to Minehead.

Team Bath's netball players have been celebrating, festival workers are getting ready for the summer and there has been plenty of cricket action down in Taunton.

Three women in traditional green and white pagan outfits hold up their arms as they and a crowd of people behind them celebrate Beltane, an ancient Celtic pagan fertility rite.PA Media

Ancient traditions: Early on Thursday, the first day of May, people gathered at the Chalice Well in Glastonbury to observe Beltane celebrations, harking back to ancient Celtic pagan fertility rites.

An aerial show shows large teepees set up in woodland on the edge of Chew Valley Lake. The site will host the Fire in Your Soul festival in July. The photograph is taken on a sunny day with the sky and the waters of the lake showing blue.

Gorgeous: Despite it being hot work, they have been setting up the teepees on the edge of Chew Valley Lake for the Fire in Your Soul Festival which will run from 4 - 6 July. The new event will feature firepits, workshops, holistic therapies, dance and poetry.

A player from Team Bath stretches out to catch the ball during a netball match against the London Mavericks. She is wearing a blue and yellow kit and in the background other players from each side are watching on, with the London players wearing a black kit with pink and blue edges.Josh Le Feuvre

Thriller: Team Bath Netball edged a close contest against London Mavericks at the weekend, coming from behind to make it 53-53 with 20 seconds remaining before Charlotte Watts secured the win (below).

Players from Team Bath's netball side leap in the air as they celebrate a win against London Mavericks.Josh Le Feuvre
A small group of canoeists is seen in the shadow of Pulteney Bridge in the centre of Bath on a hot day.Getty Images

Cooling off: As temperatures rose this week, spots like the River Avon became popular with those able to paddle in the sunshine.

Somerset County Cricket Club women players smile as they get ready to go onto the pitch at Taunton for a one-day game with Lancashire. They are wearing the club's dark change kit of all black with white lettering.Getty Images

High hopes: Somerset's women took on Lancashire in Taunton this week in the Metro Bank One Day Cup competition, the visitors winning the contest by seven wickets.

A hot air balloon with a blue, white and black checked pattern is seen from above as it flies over the Somerset countryside on a sunny evening.First Flight/Bristol International Balloon Fiesta

Beautiful: What a shot. What better way to see the Somerset countryside than from a hot air balloon on a sunny evening?

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