It’s the summer of 2026, and officially, the UK has seen five heatwaves this year, the latest one coming to an end last weekend as temperatures dropped to mid-twenties.
This year, the grass in many areas has turned brown and then yellow. We have seen wildfires and drought conditions. Health warnings about heat exhaustion are front-page news. The hottest day of the year so far was recorded at Kew Gardens in London, with temperatures reaching 38.1C.
The weather this summer dominates front-page news. We have had hot summers before, but hot, relentless heatwaves are rare.
1976 was one of those long, hot unforgettable summers.
It was fifty years ago, and back then we didn’t have weather apps or amber heat warnings. There was no rolling television coverage. Unlike today’s forecasts, there were no smartphone alerts warning us to drink more water or stay indoors. Like now, we knew it was hot, but being a young teenager, the sun was what we wanted.
Britain experienced what many still regard as the hottest summer of their lives.
At the time, it was.
The Summer That Never Seemed to End
For weeks on end, the sun barely seemed to disappear. Like this year, lawns and fields turned brown and then yellow. Rivers and canals almost dried up — reservoirs did dry up, and there was drought. The country was running out of water. We even had a Minister for Drought.
On the 3rd July 1976, an emergency powers bill was announced, which produced the Drought Act of 6th August. In some areas, people queued for water from standpipes in the street.
We all seemed to be searching for a bit of shade.
And back in 1976…
There was no air conditioning in most homes, and opening the window let in hot air. Schools simply opened the windows and doors. Electric fans were rare. What I noticed at my school was that the older buildings, built with thick walls, were more comfortable than the modern buildings with their sleek single-brick or concrete design.
Most cars didn’t have the luxury of climate control and fans. The first thing you would notice on opening a car door was the heat. Then, when you sat down, the seat was hot. Every journey was taken with all side windows open. If you were brave enough, you would put your head out of the window to catch any breeze.
By the time the school holidays arrived, summer was in full flow. My family was off on a British staycation, our destination being Chapel St Leonards on the Lincolnshire coast. It was a hot holiday, with ice cream vans and shops selling anything to keep us cool doing a roaring trade.
In the summer of 1976, I played outside from morning until dusk. I also got the holiday tan to end all holiday tans. We were not that aware of using sun cream back then. It was available but expensive. I don’t know of anyone who used it. Instead, we tanned until our skin turned red.
Getting sunburnt happened quite often back then. It was the wrong thing to do, but we were none the wiser. And yes, it hurt — a lot. It did teach me a lesson, though. I’ve never gone overdoing it in the sun for a tanned look since, and I always use sun cream now.
The remarkable thing about 1976 wasn’t just the high temperatures. The big story was how long the heat lasted. It was a summer that never seemed to end. From late June into August, much of England experienced weeks of uninterrupted sunshine. There was somewhere in Britain where recorded temperatures were above 25°C every day. There were areas that had 15 consecutive days when temperatures exceeded 32.2°C (90°F). The highest official temperature reached 35.9°C at Cheltenham on 3 July 1976.
For a country famous for rain, high temperatures for long periods of time felt unreal. That kind of sustained heat was virtually unheard of in Britain.
How Does It Compare With Today’s Heatwaves?
Here’s where things become interesting.
Although 1976 remains famous for its long-lasting summer heat, today’s heatwaves are now reaching temperatures that would have seemed almost unthinkable back then.
Recently, new records have been set for Britain’s all-time high temperature. It now stands at 40.3°C, recorded at Coningsby, Lincolnshire, on 19 July 2022. That’s more than four degrees hotter than the highest temperature recorded during the 1976 heatwave. Recent summers have also produced record-breaking June temperatures, with 37.7°C recorded in June 2026. That’s comfortably more than any June temperature seen during the summer of 1976.
But, 1976 was famous for how long the heat lasted and still holds the record for the highest average summer maximum temperatures over a period of time.
Today’s heatwaves are producing higher peak temperatures and more frequent extreme heat events. Last week, where I live, temperatures were in the low thirties; this week, low to mid-twenties.
And it’s finally raining - well, a little!
Then and Now
For many, the summer of 1976 meant school holidays filled with sunshine, family trips to the seaside and evenings spent outdoors until late. Yet it was also one of the most severe droughts Britain has experienced. It affected farming, water supplies and the environment for many months. The dry conditions had actually been building since the year before, making the 76 heatwave even more damaging.
It was persistently hot but never reached the temperature highs of this year.
Every generation has its defining weather story. I grew up experiencing two. There was The Big Freeze of 1963, which I was far too young to remember. I have no memory at all of the coldest winter on record for the UK.
The summer of 1976, I do remember, but I’m not tempted to say:
“You should have been around in ’76 — that was really hot…”
Because 2026 presents something different. We have had heatwave after heatwave and higher recorded temperatures. They are both memorable, and now we wait to see what next year brings. Temperatures are getting higher, and that presents us with a problem in 2026 and beyond.
Photo 1 by Viktor Forgacs on Unsplash
Photo 2 by Stefan Siegel on Unsplash
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