The summer of 1976 was the hottest summer in the UK since records began. As well as the heat, Britain was in the middle of a severe drought.
The temperature reached 80°F (26.7°C) every day between 22 June and 16 July. The truly remarkable heat wave was in late June and early July. For 15 consecutive days from 23 June to 7 July inclusive, temperatures reached 90°F (32.2°C) somewhere in England on each of these 15 days. Furthermore, five days saw temperatures exceed 95°F (35°C). On 28 June, temperatures reached 35.6°C (96.1°F) in Southampton, 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, one of the hottest July days on record in the UK.
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. Parts of the south west went 45 days without any rain in July and August. As the hot, 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% [1].
The effect on domestic water supplies led to the passing of a Drought Act by parliament and Minister for Drought, Denis Howell, was appointed. There was widespread water rationing and public standpipes in some affected areas. 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, without a drop of water in any of them, as well as Frecheville Pond and Carterhall Pond (Carterhall Pond was permanently dry until 2007, when floods hit, and has never dried since).
In the last week of August, severe thunderstorms brought rain to some places for the first time in weeks. September and October 1976 were both very wet months, and the great drought of 1975-1976 had finally ended.
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In the Central England Temperature series 1976 has the hottest summer for more than 350 years and probably for much longer. The average temperature over the whole summer (June, July, August) was 17.77°C, compared to the average for the unusually warm current decade (2001-2008) of 16.30°C.[1] There have in other years been hotter specific summer months, though.
   | BBC News look back at the drought - BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Is 2006 the new 1976? |
| | BBC Weather article - BBC - Weather Centre - Features - Understanding Weather - The 1976 Drought |
| | , seasonal rankings - Home of hadobs.org |
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