Weather of 26th to 28th June 1976

[A Face like Thunder]

The weather of the past few days will be a reminder to some of the extreme heat in late June 1976.

On Saturday 26th June, the temperature reached 35.4C, the earliest date in June in the 20th century on which 35C had been reached. We thought of calling off our fete until we realised that the insurance company would certainly not pay out for cancellation due to 'extreme heat', and the hot dogs went largely uneaten.

Sunday 27th June - and we cooked at the Army Open Day at Aldershot. It was almost painful to stay seated on the stone seats, and what it must have been like for the soldiers on the parade ground, I really cannot imagine. Max temperature 35.5C.

Monday 28th June - and the temperature reached 35.6C, an equal record high. I was based in London then but fortunately was at Chichester that day and spent most of the afternoon on the coast at Wittering.

And of course unlike this hot spell, the heat in 1976 continued into July and August, only coming to an end towards the end of August. And my abiding memories were of seeing fires all around as I crossed Epsom Downs. 

My acknowledgements to Trevor Harley and his very informative website on Extreme Weather in Britain

 

[Polar Bears in Doncaster]

Overall 1976 produced a sunny hot summer but it finished dismally in September with a lot of rain. June was incredible for sunshine I recall and the drought that year resulted in the Ladybower reservoir level in the Peak District dropping to expose the old ruins of Derwent Hall and other stuff.

 

For me 1975 produced a much better summer in terms of sunshine and warmth - although I think it snowed somewhere in the UK during June!

[A Face like Thunder]

At Buxton, snow stopped play in a county cricket match on 2nd June 1975, much to the delight of legendary umpire Dickie Bird. No comparison of course with the rest of the summer plus 1976 up to the end of August..