Heathrow had a record 16 consecutive days in which the mercury climbed to over 30C, from June 23 to July 8, 1976.
In 1976 the hot weather was very long lasting. It was dry from March until September, six months.
The hottest temperature recorded in 1976 was 35.6C in Southampton on June 28.
The heatwave in 1976 also triggered an onslaught of ladybirds, with the British Entomological and Natural History Society predicting that 23.65 billion of them swarmed across the country.
A warmer than usual spring created larger populations of aphids, creating more food for ladybirds, making them swarm along the southern and eastern coasts of England.
Millions of pounds worth of crops failed as a result of the sweltering heat, and major wildfires occurred in Dorset.
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I thought we were heading that way back in the dry, warm, Spring ... but then we had a prolonged wet spell here in South East, and since then we've had breaks between warm weather and ground has plenty of moisture.
Autumn before 1976 drought I laid out and planted about 1/2 acre of shrubs in my parents garden and sodded off abroad for 2 years and they were carrying bathwater out to try to keep them alive ... I had that here 2018 - brown lawns and parched plants and record breaking temperature was recorded only half a dozen miles away, but not got that problem this year, thankfully.
Winter job, has been for last couple of winters :( is to get the rain water harvesting tanks commissioned, which will mean I won't be too bothered thereafter, and probably even in a position to irrigate the lawns if I decide to have posh-grass.
i remember all the ladybirds as a kid. would have been terrifying if any other type of insect but ladybirds are cute and nobody much has a phobia of them. could have ended up like 1976 if the drought we had this May had continued but since then regular rain interspersed with the heat waves has made good growing weather and gardens generally still looking good
Try not to be so negative and look for the positives............. we're not stuck indoors but working outdoors, t shirt and shorts in the hot weather... we're really fortunate with the work we do and I'm sure millions of workers stuck in factories/offices would happly swap places in this weather.. Maybe crops did fail.............. we're all still here so was it really that serious?
i read somewhere a while ago that apparently some old trees are still suffering from the legacy of the 1976 drought. people are softer and more numerous these days and expect a higher standard of living so if it happens again it could have even more of an impact
!976 was a great summer , I was at art college and living in a bedsit . Bohemian rhapsody came out in 1976 and combine harvester by the wurzels .
Bizarrely I had no interest in gardening but my landlord asked me if i would do the garden in exchange for not having to pay the rent which was £4.50 a week .
The small garden mostly grass took me about an hour , not a bad rate for 1976 and a saturday job in a wallpaper shop paid me £19.00
When i work in the area i often park outside the bedsit to have my lunch and the bedsit is now a luxury apartment and the little garden is still there , great summer 1976 .
Great story. I was 2 so don't remember that year only that people older than me talked and still talk about 76. Queen and the wurzels could life get better?
plus one :)
😂👍
Wasnt here for the 1976 but the 2018 was bad enough
6 wks with not a penny earned (lawn care/ mow & blow...
Like Mark, wasn't around for the summer of 1976, however it did feature heavily in my dissertation.
If we are going to start comparing to 1976, then we need to be ready for a hard winter - despite the summer, 76 was actually an average year in terms of temperature because the winter was much colder than normal. Wrap up warm folks 😉
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