What actually occurred throughout legendary 1976 heatwave – dry faucets and swarms of ladybirds
It’s been 50 years since the hottest summer in British history. With temperatures soaring to record June highs, we look at what may be in store…
1976: Model Cerica, 19, soaks up the sun in a dried-up reservoir basin(Image: PA Wire)
Britain has roasted through its hottest June day ever, as the Daily Star revealed this week. The mercury soared to 37.3C in Santon Downham, Suffolk, smashing the infamous 35.6C record set on June 28, 1976.
Here Meg Jorsh looks back at that year’s historic heatwave, now exactly half a century ago, to see what we could have in store this summer…
Blazing a trail
It all started with a scorching June 23, 1976. That initial blast of summer heat turned into a long, slow burn, with 15 consecutive days reaching 32C or higher.
Temperatures peaked on July 3 with 35.9C in Cheltenham, then the UK settled into a hot, dry summer with clear skies and very little rain. It was great fun at first, as sun-seekers crowded the beaches and parks. But problems soon started to emerge.
Water palaver
The months leading up to the sizzling spell had been warm and unusually dry. So reservoir levels were already depleted and began to plummet even further, with Haweswater, in Cumbria, reaching just 10% of its usual capacity by August.
Ladybower, in Derbyshire, dried out completely, revealing the spooky, flooded villages of Ashopton and Derwent.
Rational thinking
Soon crops began to fail, forcing Britain to import an extra million tons of grain. Food prices shot up by 12 per cent as taps ran dry, while standpipes appeared in the streets in many areas, so families could collect just enough water to meet their daily needs.
In response, the Government passed the Drought Act 1976, giving them more powers to ration supplies.
Free as a ladybird
By late July, things were getting weird as huge swarms of ladybirds appeared on the southern and eastern coasts.
There were 23.65billion of the insects, according to the British Entomological and Natural History Society. They were looking for food after the aphids, their usual prey, died off as the hot weather dried out the plants on which they fed.
Bathing duty
As officials doled out water-saving advice, the cheeky slogan “Save water, bath with a friend” was soon popping up all over the UK.
Even Denis Howell, our first ever Minister for Drought, claimed to be bathing with wife Brenda to preserve supplies.
He was appointed in the last week of August – and days later, heavy rainfall caused widespread chaos. He was nicknamed the “Minister for Floods.”
One to remember
The heatwave was over by August 27, but its legacy lives on in British memory – not only because of the 250 deaths it is said to have caused every day.
It’s often referred to in songs, like Damon Albarn’s Hollow Ponds and Badly Drawn Boy’s Born in the U.K., and has inspired several documentaries.
