A period of unusually hot summer weather occurred in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

during the summer of 1976. At the same time, there was a severe

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

on the islands of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. 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. In the

CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast En ...

record, it was the warmest summer in the series until being surpassed in the 21st century. It was the warmest summer in the

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

area since at least 1864, and the driest summer since 1868 in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. The health effects of the heat contributed to

mortality displacement In epidemiology, mortality displacement is the occurrence of deaths at an earlier time than they would have otherwise occurred, meaning the deaths are ''displaced'' from the future into the present. The displacement may be described as the resul ...

during the year. Wildlife and vegetation effects were also observed. The British government implemented water rationing to mitigate the impact of the drought. It remains a reference point for unusually hot summers in the country.

Heatwave and drought effects

Heathrow Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...

had 16 consecutive days over 30 °C (86 °F) from 23 June to 8 July and for 15 consecutive days from 23 June to 7 July temperatures reached 32.2 °C (90 °F) somewhere in England. Furthermore, five days saw temperatures exceed 35 °C (95 °F). On 28 June, temperatures reached 35.6 °C (96.1 °F) in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, the highest June temperature recorded in the UK. The hottest day of all was 3 July, with temperatures reaching 35.9 °C (96.6 °F) in Cheltenham. 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 drought was at its most severe in August 1976 and in response Parliament passed the Drought Act 1976 to ration water.http://politicsuk.net
(full text) Parts of the

south west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

went 45 days without any rain in July and August. As the hot and dry weather continued, devastating

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...

and forest fires broke out in parts of

Southern England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes ...

. 50,000 trees were destroyed at

Hurn Forest Christchurch () is a town and civil parish in Dorset on the south coast of England. The town had a population of 31,372 in 2021. For the borough the population was 48,368. It adjoins Bournemouth to the west, with the New Forest to the east. Part ...

in Dorset. Crops were badly hit, with £500 million worth of crops failing.

Food prices Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices have an impact on producers and consumers of food. Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing ...

subsequently increased by 12%. In the last week of August 1976, days after

Denis Howell Denis Herbert Howell, Baron Howell (4 September 1923 – 19 April 1998) was a British Labour Party politician. He was a councillor on Birmingham City Council between 1946 and 1956. He was the Member of Parliament for Birmingham All Saints fro ...

was appointed 'Minister for Drought', severe

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are some ...

s brought rain to some places for the first time in weeks. September and October 1976 were both very wet months, bringing to an end the great drought of 1975–1976. The

Haweswater reservoir Haweswater is a reservoir in the valley of Mardale, Cumbria in the Lake District, England. Work to raise the height of the original natural lake was started in 1929. It was controversially dammed after the UK Parliament passed a Private Ac ...

had only 10% of its water left; people walked dryshod on its bed below its normal water level. The site of the flooded village of

Mardale Mardale is a glacial valley in the Lake District, in northern England. The valley used to have a hamlet at its head, called Mardale Green, but this village was submerged in the late 1930s when the water level of the valley's lake, Haweswater, w ...

Green was dry.

Ladybower reservoir Ladybower Reservoir is a large Y-shaped, artificial reservoir, the lowest of three in the Upper Derwent Valley in Derbyshire, England. The River Ashop flows into the reservoir from the west; the River Derwent flows south, initially through How ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

dried out and revealed the flooded villages of

Ashopton Ashopton was a small village in Derbyshire, England, in the valley of the River Ashop. The village population was less than 100. Details are included in the civil parish of Aston, Derbyshire. In the early 1940s, the village (along with neighbou ...

and Derwent, it was possible to make out the village layout and garden walls. In Ireland the temperature reached in County Offaly on 29 June 1976. There were also gorse fires in County Wicklow. June1976

Health impact

The 1976 heatwave is understood to have been the cause of 20% "

excess deaths In epidemiology, mortality displacement is the occurrence of deaths at an earlier time than they would have otherwise occurred, meaning the deaths are ''displaced'' from the future into the present. The displacement may be described as the resul ...

" and there was a significant increase in hospital emergency admissions from 24 June to 8 July 1976 than for the same period in 1975 or 1974. This compares to 59% excess deaths for the 2003 heatwave.

Ecological impact

Massive swarms of seven-spotted ladybirds (''

Coccinella septempunctata ''Coccinella septempunctata'', the seven-spot ladybird (or, in North America, seven-spotted ladybug or "C-7"), is the most common ladybird in Europe. Its elytra are of a red colour, but punctuated with three black spots each, with one further spo ...

'') occurred across the country, with the

British Entomological and Natural History Society The British Entomological and Natural History Society or BENHS is a British entomological Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of ...

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 Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A t ...

, the ladybirds' food 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. The extensive fires paradoxically helped preserve many areas of

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

that had been becoming scrubland through natural succession because of reduced grazing pressure; the only long-term effect of the fires on

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

heathlands was a change in the composition of scrub. The impacts of the extended drought on mature trees, especially beech, were still evident in UK woodlands in 2013.

Government response

The effect on domestic water supplies led to the passing of a Drought Act by

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

and Minister for Drought,

, was appointed. There was some water rationing and public standpipes in some affected areas. Reservoirs were at an extremely low level, as were some rivers. The rivers

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

Sheaf Sheaf may refer to: * Sheaf (agriculture), a bundle of harvested cereal stems * Sheaf (mathematics), a mathematical tool * Sheaf toss, a Scottish sport * River Sheaf, a tributary of River Don in England * ''The Sheaf'', a student-run newspaper se ...

Shire Brook Shire Brook is a small stream in the south eastern part of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It rises in the suburb of Gleadless Townend and flows in a general easterly direction for to its confluence with the River Rother bet ...

and

Meers Brook The Meers Brook is a stream in Sheffield, England and one of the main tributaries of the River Sheaf. The Meers Brook originates in Gleadless and flows downhill through Gleadless Valley and Meersbrook then, culverted, continues underneath Heel ...

(all in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

) all ran completely dry, without a drop of water in any of them, as well as Frecheville Pond and Carterhall Pond. Longer term, the UK

Department of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

realised it needed more information about the storage capacity and other properties of British

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials ( gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characteris ...

s, as sources of

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated ...

Comparisons

CET 1659 - 2014 using Hadley Centre Data

The highest temperature during the 1976 heatwave was , 0.8 °C below the record at the time of set on 9 August 1911. As of 2022, 1976 has the 13th hottest day in UK history. In the

Central England Temperature The Central England Temperature (CET) record is a meteorological dataset originally published by Professor Gordon Manley in 1953 and subsequently extended and updated in 1974, following many decades of painstaking work. The monthly mean surface a ...

series, 1976 is the hottest summer for more than 350 years. The average temperature over the whole summer (June, July, August) was , compared to the average for the unusually warm years between 2001–2008 of . As of 2022, the hottest years in the series are 2003, 2006 and 2014. The summer became embedded in the national psyche, with subsequent heatwaves in 1995, 1997, 2003, 2006 and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

, 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 In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

References

Bibliography

* ''The Great Drought of 1976''. Evelyn Cox (1978). Hutchinson, Readers Union Group, {{Heat waves in the United Kingdom United Kingdom Heat Wave, 1976 United Kingdom Heat Wave, 1976 Heat waves in the United Kingdom

Heat wave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...

1976 heat waves 1976 disasters in the United Kingdom June 1976 events in Europe July 1976 events in Europe August 1976 events in Europe Natural disasters in Ireland 1976 in Ireland