Scientists at University of Sheffield map out Britain's sun spots

Scientists at University of Sheffield map out Britain's sun spots. Britain is getting brighter according to solar experts at the University of Sheffield who have also revealed the coastal city of Portsmouth was the UK's sunniest place in 2011. At the other end of the sunshine scale, Loch Maree in North West Scotland was found to be the least sunny place in the UK last year. The rest of the top ten sunniest recordings were taken at St Athan near Cardiff, Ramsgate in Kent, the Lleyn Peninsula in North West Wales, Camborne in Cornwall, around Bangor, near Swansea, London and Bournemouth International Airport. Researchers at the University say the figures show the amount of sun light in Britain has been increasing year on year, except in Scotland where it is becoming less sunny, and that 2011 was 10 per cent brighter than 2010. Experts were surprised to find that Durham basked in 13.5 per cent more sun light than recorded in previous years, parts of South Wales were some of the sunniest in the UK, and Cornwall was duller than expected. The enlightening statistics have come from Alastair Buckley, of the University of Sheffield´s Department of Physics and Astronomy, and his team, who have been researching the efficiency of solar panels installed at homes across the UK.