1976 British Isles heatwave

none December 2025 December 2025 Lyme Regis Beach - geograph.org.uk - 717762.jpg Lyme Regis Beach, Dorset, August 1976 23 June 1976 - 27 August 1976http://www.trevorharley.com/weather_web_pages/british_weather_in_august.htm Trevor Harley Home Page weather consciousness language dreams 4 September 2018 4 September 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180904052607/http://www.trevorharley.com/weather_web_pages/british_weather_in_august.htm live 35.9 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire 3 July 1976 British Isles A period of unusually hot summer weather occurred in the British Isles during the summer of 1976. At the same time, there was a severe drought on the islands of Great Britain and Ireland.The drought of 1976 https://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/articles/2006/08/04/drought_1976_series_feature.shtml BBC News 20 May 2011 20 March 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120320052940/http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/articles/2006/08/04/drought_1976_series_feature.shtml liveThe Great Drought of 1976 Hutchinson, Readers Union Group Cox, Evelyn Cox 1978 It was one of the driest, sunniest and warmest summers (June/July/August) in the 20th century, although the summer of 1995 is now regarded as the driest. Only a few places registered more than half their average summer rainfall. The health effects of the heat contributed to mortality displacement during the year. Wildlife and vegetation effects were also observed. The British government implemented water rationing to mitigate the impact of the drought. Crops were badly hit, with £500 million worth of crops failing and food prices subsequently increased by 12%. In the Central England temperature record, it was the warmest summer in the series only equalled by 2025. It was the warmest summer in the Aberdeen area since at least 1864, and the driest summer since 1868 in Glasgow.http://booty.org.uk/booty.weather/climate/1975_1999.htm 1975–1999 Booty.org.uk 15 December 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161003053817/http://booty.org.uk/booty.weather/climate/1975_1999.htm 3 October 2016 dead It remains a reference point for unusually hot summers in the country. Heatwave and drought effects thumb|June 1976 GISS Surface Temperature Analysis Global Maps from GHCN v3 Data Heathrow had 16 consecutive days with daily maxima over 30 °C (86 °F) from 23 June to 8 Julyhttp://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/interesting/aug03maxtemps.html Hot spell – August 2003 Met Office 15 December 2016 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20110405004808/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/interesting/aug03maxtemps.html 5 April 2011 and for 15 consecutive days from 23 June to 7 July temperatures reached 32.2 °C (90 °F) somewhere in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, five days saw temperatures exceed 35 °C (95 °F). On 28 June, temperatures reached 35.6 °C (96.1 °F) in Southampton. The hottest day of all was 3 July, with temperatures reaching 35.9 °C (96.6 °F) in Cheltenham.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40353118 Hottest June day since summer of 1976 in heatwave BBC News 21 June 2017 2022-08-15 The great drought was due to a very long dry period. The summer and autumn of 1975 were very dry, and the winter of 1975–76 was exceptionally dry, as was the spring of 1976; indeed, some months during this period had no rain at all in some areas.The Standpipe Drought - 1975 to 1976 https://www.ceh.ac.uk/our-science/projects/standpipe-drought-1975-1976 2026-07-06 www.ceh.ac.ukMarsh Terry Cole Gwyneth Wilby Rob April 2007 Major droughts in England and Wales, 1800–2006 https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wea.67 Weather en 62 4 87–93 10.1002/wea.67 0043-1656 The drought was at its most severe in August 1976 and in response Parliament passed the Drought Act 1976 to ration water.http://politicsuk.net https://web.archive.org/web/20180705233907/http://politicsuk.net/smf/index.php?topic=4499.0;wap2 5 July 2018 (full text) Parts of the south west went 45 days without any rain in July and August. As the hot and dry weather continued, devastating heath and forest fires broke out in parts of Southern England. 50,000 trees were destroyed at Hurn Forest in Dorset. Crops were badly hit, with £500 million worth of crops failing. Food prices subsequently increased by 12%.http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2001/7/4/214711.html Wiltshire news, sports, classifieds & more ! Definitive guide to the Wiltshire area – updated – 1976 1 January 2008 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090708200802/http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2001/7/4/214711.html 8 July 2009 In the last week of August 1976, days after Denis Howell was appointed Minister for Drought, severe thunderstorms brought rain to some places for the first time in weeks. September and October 1976 were both very wet months, bringing the drought to an end. The Haweswater Reservoir had only 10% of its water left; people walked dryshod on its bed 60 feet m below its normal water level. The site of the flooded village of Mardale Green was dry.Ian Harrison Britain from Above 2008 Pavilion Books London 978-1-862058-34-7 169 Ladybower Reservoir in Derbyshire dried out and revealed the flooded villages of Ashopton and Derwent.Long-lost photos of doomed Derbyshire villages that vanished https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/nostalgia/long-lost-photos-doomed-derbyshire-6820977 DerbyshireLive 16 August 2022 21 March 2022 In Ireland the temperature reached 32.5 C F in County Offaly on 29 June 1976.Ireland's Hottest Day https://www.rte.ie/archives/2018/0706/976813-irelands-hottest-day/ 18 July 2018 RTÉ Archives 19 July 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180719024333/https://www.rte.ie/archives/2018/0706/976813-irelands-hottest-day/ live There were also gorse fires in County Wicklow. Health impact The 1976 heatwave is understood to have been the cause of 20% excess deaths and there was a significant increase in hospital emergency admissions from 24 June to 8 July 1976 compared with the same period in 1975 or 1974.http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/49/1/1.long https://web.archive.org/web/20160920202217/http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/49/1/1.long dead 2016-09-20 Mortality and Morbidity in Birmingham during the 1976 Heatwave QJM 1 January 1980 2016-12-15 This compares to 59% excess deaths for the 2003 heatwave.https://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/hsq/health-statistics-quarterly/no--25--spring-2005/the-impact-of-the-2003-heat-wave-on-mortality-and-hospital-admissions-in-england.pdf The impact of the 2003 heat wave on mortality and hospital admissions in England Health Statistics Quarterly 25 Spring 2005 Helen Johnson Sari Kovats Glenn McGregor John Stedman Mark Gibbs Heather Walton Lois Cook Emily Black https://web.archive.org/web/20150630140242/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/hsq/health-statistics-quarterly/no--25--spring-2005/the-impact-of-the-2003-heat-wave-on-mortality-and-hospital-admissions-in-england.pdf 30 June 2015 Ecological impact Massive swarms of seven-spotted ladybirds occurred across the country, with the British Entomological and Natural History Society estimating that by late July 23.65 billion of them were swarming across the southern and eastern coasts of England. The population explosion occurred because a warm spring had meant there were many aphids, the ladybirds' prey; as the hot weather dried the plants on which the aphids fed, the aphid populations collapsed, causing the ladybirds to swarm to try to find food elsewhere.5 March 2016 Could the ladybird plague of 1976 happen again? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35603972 live https://web.archive.org/web/20161016203023/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35603972 16 October 2016 15 December 2016 BBC News Online The extensive fires paradoxically helped preserve many areas of heathland that had been becoming scrubland through natural succession because of reduced grazing pressure; the only long-term effect of the fires on Dorset heathlands was a change in the composition of scrub.http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/iffn/country/gb/gb_1.htm UK: The Role of Fire in the Ecology of Heathland in Southern Britain (IFFN No. 18 – January 1998) Fire.uni-freiburg.de 15 December 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20110716212702/http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/iffn/country/gb/gb_1.htm 16 July 2011 dead The impacts of the extended drought on mature trees, especially beech, were still evident in UK woodlands in 2013.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23419036 UK forests still feeling the impacts of 1976 drought – BBC News Bbc.co.uk 24 July 2013 15 December 2016 27 May 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160527191825/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23419036 live Government response thumb|right|Burrator Reservoir in Devon, July 1976. Many reservoirs, like this one, were at a very low level. The effect of the heatwave on domestic water supplies led to the passing of a Drought Act by Parliament and Minister for Drought, Denis Howell, was appointed.Longman Phil Was 1976 all it's cracked up to be? https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3519662.stm BBC News 20 May 2011 17 March 2004 16 February 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090216213832/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3519662.stm live There was some water rationing and public standpipes in some affected areas.July 2022 Reservoirs were at an extremely low level, as were some rivers. The rivers Don, Sheaf, Shire Brook and Meers Brook (all in Sheffield) all ran completely dry, as well as Frecheville Pond and Carterhall Pond.June 2023 Longer term, the UK Department of the Environment realised it needed more information about the storage capacity and other properties of British aquifers, as sources of groundwater.July 2022 Comparisons thumb|Graph showing Central England temperature dataset, 1659 to 2014 The highest temperature during the 1976 heatwave was 35.9 C F, 0.8 °C below the record at the time of 36.7 C F set on 9 August 1911.30 October 2012 Hot spell August 1990 https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/metofficegovuk/pdf/weather/learn-about/uk-past-events/interesting/1990/hot-spell-august-1990---met-office.pdf 20 July 2022 Met Office 20 July 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210720084047/https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/metofficegovuk/pdf/weather/learn-about/uk-past-events/interesting/1990/hot-spell-august-1990---met-office.pdf live As of 2022, 1976 has the 13th hottest day in UK history. In the Central England Temperature series, 1976 is the second hottest summer for more than 350 years after 2025. The average temperature over the whole summer (June, July, August) was 17.77 C F, compared to the average for the unusually warm years between 2001 and 2008 of 16.30 C F. https://web.archive.org/web/20080407185750/http://www.hadobs.org/ 7 April 2008 As of 2025, the hottest years in the series are 2003, 2006, 2014 and 2022.Met Office Hadley Centre observations datasets https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcet/ 2022-07-19 www.metoffice.gov.uk 19 July 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220719124422/https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcet/ live The summer became embedded in the national psyche, with subsequent heatwaves in later years, such as 1995,The summer of '76 https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/water_week/66193.stm BBC News 20 May 2011 20 March 1998 24 February 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070224003604/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/water_week/66193.stm live 1997,Government warns of water shortages https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/21832.stm BBC News 20 May 2011 4 November 1997 5 January 2003 https://web.archive.org/web/20030105234610/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/21832.stm live 2003, 2006,Coughlan Sean Is 2006 the new 1976 https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/5173526.stm BBC News 20 May 2011 14 July 2006 2022,Simons Paul This UK heatwave is not like the summer of 1976. We've never seen anything like it The Times en https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/this-uk-heatwave-is-nothing-like-the-summer-of-1976-we-have-never-seen-anything-like-it-rtsz2q76c 18 July 2022 2022-07-19 0140-0460 19 July 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220719125028/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/this-uk-heatwave-is-nothing-like-the-summer-of-1976-we-have-never-seen-anything-like-it-rtsz2q76c live 19 July 2022 Yes, Britain had a heatwave in 1976. No, it was nothing like the crisis we're in now Ella Gilbert en The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/19/britain-heatwave-1976-crisis-summer-heat 2022-07-19 19 July 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220719125029/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/19/britain-heatwave-1976-crisis-summer-heat live and 2026Amber heat health alerts in effect as UK set for one of longest-lasting heatwaves since 1976 https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/cwy0jpez1nqo 9 July 2026 BBC Weather all using 1976 as a benchmark. The 1976 heatwave was a rarity within its decade. Heatwaves in the UK and worldwide have since become more frequent and intense due to climate change.18 July 2022 UK heatwave: How do temperatures compare with 1976? en-GB BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/62212604 2022-07-19 19 July 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220719124051/https://www.bbc.com/news/62212604 live In popular culture The heatwave is mentioned in the 2014 song "Hollow Ponds" by English singer Damon Albarn. https://genius.com/Damon-albarn-hollow-ponds-lyrics Hollow Ponds genius.com 2024-08-27 "Where were you in '76, the long hot summer? You wanna be a rebel, Then turn your hosepipes on." is a lyric in the title track of Born in the U.K., a 2006 album by English musician Badly Drawn Boy.https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858631115/ Badly Drawn Boy - Born in the U.K. SongMeanings.com 2026-06-24 See also Drought in the United Kingdom 1976 European heatwave 1955 United Kingdom heatwave References Bibliography The Great Drought of 1976. Evelyn Cox (1978). Hutchinson, Readers Union Group, 978-0091332006 autocollapse Category:1970s disasters in Ireland Category:1976 disasters in the United Kingdom Category:1976 in Ireland Heat wave United Kingdom Heat Wave, 1976 United Kingdom Heat Wave, 1976 Category:20th-century heat waves Category:August 1976 in Europe Category:Heat waves in the United Kingdom Category:July 1976 in Europe Category:June 1976 in Europe Category:Natural disasters in Ireland