Jellyfish appear on Portobello beach as temperatures set to rise this week

Jellyfish have been spotted on Portobello beach as water temperatures begin to rise.

One local resident said she came across several of the creatures washed up on the beach when she went for a swim on Monday.

“It was quite exciting to see them (sad that they were dead of course) and it didn’t put me off going for a splash in the sea,” said Laura Curtis-Moss.

Ms Curtis-Moss identified the specimens as Blue Jellyfish, which can be colourless when young but have a striking blue or purple streak when mature.

They are commonly seen on coastlines around the UK from May to October, but Ms Curtis-Moss has not seen them at Portobello before.

Members of the public are advised not to touch them, as like many jellyfish species they can sting.

Ms Curtis-Moss counted between two and five jellyfish per metre along the section of the beach where she went for a swim, along with the same again in the water.

Almost all the jellyfish were dead, with one or two alive in the water.

“It was the first time I’d seen them at Portobello – but I think that’s possibly because the beach is usually mechanically cleaned during the summer,” said Ms Curtis-Moss.

“The last time I remember seeing so many washed up on a beach was on holiday in St Andrews about 1997!”

There have also been reports of Lion’s Mane Jellyfish on Portobello beach in recent days.

These brown or red jellyfish are also common around the UK in the summer months.

Found up to two metres in diameter, they are the largest jellyfish species in the world.

They also threaten a particularly painful sting.

The jellyfish sightings come as temperatures are set to rise around Edinburgh and the Lothians this week.

While Scotland will not see the ‘heatwave’ conditions forecast across parts of central and southern England, the weather is still due to be relatively warm.

Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist, Matthew Lehnert, said: “We quite often see warm, southerly air from the continent bringing these high temperatures to the UK in summer, however this week, the air across the UK has arrived from the Atlantic.

“This Atlantic air will descend and warm up as it moves across the UK and this in combination with clear skies and strong late-June sunshine, we’re seeing temperatures rise.”

“By Thursday, Northern Ireland and Scotland will join the rest of the country in seeing a shorter lived spell of warm and sunny weather, but we’re also seeing an increased risk of thunderstorms towards the end of the week which is expected to bring an end to the very warm and sunny weather.”

Wednesday is expected to see highs of 24 degrees with sunny spells throughout the day.

Warm weather will continue into Thursday and Friday, but there is a chance of thundery showers on Friday.

Temperatures will then drop over the weekend to around 17 degrees.

Rain predicted on Saturday, but Sunday may be brighter, if cloudy.

May was the sunniest calendar month on record in Scotland, with some counties in the east of the country recording their driest Spring since 1862.