Summer Of 1976. 30th Anniversary

[MP-R]

Don't forget the summer of 1989 was a hot one from the start of the July to the start of September. I think 35.5C was recorded as a high in my area that year around August 8th.

[Scribbler]

Don't forget the summer of 1989 was a hot one from the start of the July to the start of September. I think 35.5C was recorded as a high in my area that year around August 8th.

Hot is one thing - heat is another!!!

That was just one particularly HOT day in 1989.

The summer of 1976 just went on and on - non-stop HEAT.

That's what made it so memorable.

[Scribbler]

I think I'm just about the only resident of the UK who would probably get bored after three months of near-constant dry sunny weather.

I lived in Townsville in North Queensland from 1967 to 1976. Our summers were just six months of day-after-day sunshine and temperatures around 30C or more.

I used to long to be able to draw in a lung-chilling breath of fresh cold air.

Thats why 1976 in the UK felt so excessive - I think we recorded (in Chichester, W. Sussex) ten consecutive days of temperatures over 80F (27C) and many more were close to that figure.

Oh - and winters in Townsville (daily temperatures around 23C) were almost as bad - rain most days around 4 pm - like clockwork.

Variety is the spice of life - don't tell my missus!

I also know when the drought ended - it was the day my honeymoon in Devon started!

We came home the next day having been flooded out of our tent!!!! (Well - we thought that a bit of lying around in a hot sunny field with some cider would be quite, hmm - 'interesting' (! ? !) The marriage lasted a year!!!

[MP-R]

What was the highest recorded temperature in 1976. I've heard about 37C, is there anything higher?

[Weather-history]

What was the highest recorded temperature in 1976. I've heard about 37C, is there anything higher?

No it was 35.9C on the 3rd of July 1976. I think it was Cheltenham

[Nick F]

What was the highest recorded temperature in 1976. I've heard about 37C, is there anything higher?

We had to wait until 3rd August 1990 for 37.1C to be reached at Cheltenham, a Gloucestershire town that seems to be a 'hot spot' - maybe due to it being in the Severn valley. We then had to wait until 10th August 2003 for another reading of over 37C.

[Thundery wintry showers]

There was a bit of confusion over the highest temp recorded on 10 August 2003, with the Met Office saying that 38.5C at Brogdale was the official record, but Philip Eden and a few others saying that the reading was probably erroneous and that 38.1C in Kew was the record. There was a heated debate on it in the Weather magazine. Either way, though, 10 August 2003 saw the highest temperature on record with 100F.

August 1990 had a similar argument surrounding it, but the authorities soon came into line with the 37.1C. There was also an erroneous reading of 38C during 1976 that was later discarded.

Summer 1976 would appear to have been, like July 1983 and August 1995, noted for persistence of exceptional heat, rather than individual record-breaking temperatures like in 1990 and 2003.

[Weather-history]

Summer 1972 had a CET of 14.2 whilst summer 1976 had a CET of 17.8. Here's some data comparing the two summers

Plymouth

Summer 1972 Mean Max: 17.3C (-1.4)

Summer 1976 Mean Max: 21.8C (+3.1)

Belfast

Summer 1972 Mean Max: 16.8C (-1.3)

Summer 1976 Mean Max: 20.5C (+2.4)

Glasgow

Summer 1972 Mean Max: 17.4C (-1.3)

Summer 1976 Mean Max: 20.7C (+2.0)

Aberdeen

Summer 1972 Mean Max: 16.8C (-0.6)

Summer 1976 Mean Max: 20.0C (+2.6)

Birmingham

Summer 1972 Mean Max: 17.8C (-1.9)

Summer 1976 Mean Max: 23.2C (+3.5)

Durham

Summer 1972 Mean Max: 17.7C (-1.3)

Summer 1976 Mean Max: 21.4C (+2.4)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Summer 1947

Scotland Rainfall: 218mm Mean Temp:13.5C

N.Ireland Rainfall: 236mm Mean Temp:14.6C

Eng&Wales Rainfall: 147mm Mean Temp:16.3C

Summer 1959

Scotland Rainfall: 299mm Mean Temp:13.1C

N.Ireland Rainfall: 201mm Mean Temp:14.4C

Eng&Wales Rainfall: 147mm Mean Temp:15.9C

Summer 1975

Scotland Rainfall: 239mm Mean Temp:13.3C

N.Ireland Rainfall: 159mm Mean Temp:14.6C

Eng&Wales Rainfall: 136mm Mean Temp:16.1C

Summer 1976

Scotland Rainfall: 156mm Mean Temp:13.8C

N.Ireland Rainfall: 142mm Mean Temp:15.0C

Eng&Wales Rainfall: 111mm Mean Temp:16.9C

Summer 1995

Scotland Rainfall: 158mm Mean Temp:13.7C

N.Ireland Rainfall: 126mm Mean Temp:15.5C

Eng&Wales Rainfall: 71.6mm Mean Temp:16.6C

Summer 2003

Scotland Rainfall: 201mm Mean Temp:14.1C

N.Ireland Rainfall: 202mm Mean Temp:14.9C

Eng&Wales Rainfall: 160mm Mean Temp:16.7C

Edited June 20, 2006 by Mr_Data

[Terminal Moraine]

I know you wrote this along time ago but how many days did we get between june and september that had temperatures of about 20 or above? and how many also for 1983? also, id like to task the same about 1989 as i hear 1989 was good but i cant remember how good - i live in the west midlands too. if there were about 8weeks of sunny weather at 20degrees or more, that makes a good summer to me. i think we had that in 2003, 2006, 1995, maybe 1991 (as of august and september, and at least half of july) 1983, possibly 1989 and 1990?. i see 20-21 as good enough to pass for a summer type scenario if it is consistent enough. from what i would conclude though, 1984 wasnt bad but 1985-1988 were onions. and 2007 - 2011 are likely to be the same.

I don't know about the CET but at a station I was running at the time, at 178m in mid-Derbyshire, the number of days reaching 20c between June 1st and September 30th is as follows;

1976.....69

1983.....56

1995.....62

For comparison 1987 had 32 days and 1988 25 days.

I didn't move to my current location until 1977 but the number of 20c+ days at this site are;

1983....49

1987....17

1988.....9

1995....53

[Terminal Moraine]

All the information is from my own personal records which began in 1963. The Peak District is colder ( and wetter) than the rest of the Midlands as it's considerably higher than most of the area, the general altitude being above 300mts and rising to 600m on the Kinder Plateau. Most of the habitated areas are between 300 and 500 mts a.s.l.

Here's a complete list of the number of days reaching 20c or more in every summer ( June 1st-Sept 30th ) from 1964 to 2010.

The data for 1964-1986 is from my first station at 178mts a.s.l and from 1987-2010 from a Met' Office accredited station run by my mother at 140 mts and about 9 miles north east of the first one.

1964...64

1965...47

1966...65

1967...58

1968...48

1969...55

1970...63

1971...57

1972...31

1973...62

1974...31

1975...69

1976...71

1977...31

1978...25

1979...38

1980...33

1981...35

1982...45

1983...56

1984...54

1985...22

1986...23

1987...33

1988...25

1989...64

1990...48

1991...63

1992...47

1993...33

1994...51

1995...62

1996...52

1997...56

1998...29

1999...55

2000...42

2001...47

2002...48

2003...70

2004...51

2005...60

2006...74

2007...40

2008...38

2009...52

2010...56

You may notice that 1976 now has 71 days, not 69. That's because in the first count I forgot to turn the page for the last few days of September, there were a couple more 20c+ days right at the end of the month.

Edited July 1, 2011 by Terminal Moraine

[Terminal Moraine]

. IM STILL SURPRISED BY 1990! but i think may 1990 had temps over 20 on a good few days though. haha and so did march!!!!!

1990 had a cool June and a cool September, the majority of the 20c + days were concentrated in July and August. As you say May 1990 was also a fine warm month, it had 8 20c + days, most of them at the beginning of the month.

[Uncle_Barty]

@Weather-history - or anyone else for that matter,

Is there an online source of daily maxima and rainfall for anywhere, for the summer of 1976?

[Snowyowl9]

August was the best or depends on your view worst month of 1976 that's when everywhere turned brown.

[Badgers01]

2 hours ago, Snowyowl9 said:

August was the best or depends on your view worst month of 1976 that's when everywhere turned brown.

England and Wales had turned brown long before August, by the beginning of July after the dry winter and spring in fact.

[Snowyowl9]

54 minutes ago, Badgers01 said:

England and Wales had turned brown long before August, by the beginning of July after the dry winter and spring in fact.

Not according to what I heard today by our resident neighbour,I`m talking about fields not lawns.

I expect it was still lush and green then here.

 

Edited July 15, 2018 by Snowyowl9

[hillbilly]

4 hours ago, Uncle_Barty said:

@Weather-history - or anyone else for that matter,

Is there an online source of daily maxima and rainfall for anywhere, for the summer of 1976?

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcet/data/download.html     this gives temperature max,min and average for every day for the last 3 and a half centuries.

 

[hillbilly]

4 hours ago, Uncle_Barty said:

@Weather-history - or anyone else for that matter,

Is there an online source of daily maxima and rainfall for anywhere, for the summer of 1976?

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate-historic/#?tab=climateHistoric    click on the red dots on the map to get data

[hillbilly]

4 hours ago, Uncle_Barty said:

@Weather-history - or anyone else for that matter,

Is there an online source of daily maxima and rainfall for anywhere, for the summer of 1976?

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadukp/data/download.html  this gives all the data you need

[danm]

21 hours ago, Uncle_Barty said:

@Weather-history - or anyone else for that matter,

Is there an online source of daily maxima and rainfall for anywhere, for the summer of 1976?

If you want daily maxima use this:

https://en.tutiempo.net/climate/07-1976/ws-37720.html

I’ve linked to July 1976 at Heathrow but you can pick any month from most years from loads of different locations. 

[Uncle_Barty]

Thanks!

 

[Weather-history]

Guardian of June 1976

1st    2nd  3rd    4th  

5th   7th   8th    9th  

10th  11th   12th   14th 

15th   16th  17th  18th 

19th   21st   22nd  23rd 

24th   25th  26th 

27th   28th   29th 

30th 

 

[Dreckly]

I was young but certainly remember the heat and standpipes! 

[A Face like Thunder]

Sunday 20th June was a memorable day in the SE because it rained for most of the afternoon. We carried on playing cricket regardless. Some of us thought that this was the end of the good weather, but not a bit of it, and the following Sunday, we were sweltering in the heat at the Army Open day at Aldershot. The Army display was superb but the audience on the open terraces were too hot and bothered to really appreciate it !

[Weather-history]

July 1976

1st       2nd  

3rd     4th     5th 

 

6th   7th  8th 

 

9th     10th  12th 

13th     14th 

 

 

[Weather-history]

July 1976

15th     16th  17th  

19th    20th 

 

21st    22nd   23rd  24th 

26th    27th   28th  

29th 30th 31st