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I'm Sure It's a Repeat of the Summer of 1976

(58 Posts)
Padstow13 Tue 14-Jul-26 07:40:51

I hope not, but with no rain on the horizon for a while it could well be.

Oh well.

JenniRen Sat 18-Jul-26 11:00:02

The winter of 1975/76 was exceptionally dry which meant that reservoirs were only part full at the start of the hot summer of 1976 so there were shortages.
Last winter was very wet so the reservoirs should have been much fuller at the start of this summer. However, a lot of water is lost through leaks.

Aveline Sat 18-Jul-26 10:06:05

We had banks of ladybirds here in our block of flats earlier this summer. Was very odd and quite unpleasant.

Luckygirl3 Sat 18-Jul-26 10:02:36

I asked AI if we might see a repeat of the swarms of ladybirds that happened in 1976 during the heatwave - they said no, sadly because farming practices have reduced populations. I remember banks of dead ladybirds on the shoreline along with the seaweed.

Whiff Sat 18-Jul-26 09:57:08

Remember that summer well . My first holiday with my boyfriend . Later became my husbsnd . St David's camping . Good job we had the inter tent closed as we think a fox got in the outer tent and knocked over the cool box and went off with half a cooked chicken but left the foil behind . 😀 ..
We couldn't afford a tent with ground sheet sewn in.

Remember 1977 as well went to Tintagel( cant think how it is spelt) it was hot then we where on camp site high above the sea on a slight slope. Spend lot of time in a pub with flag stones build in the 1600's drinking during the day lemon and lime and of a night larger and lime..

1983 June when my daughter was born was boiling hot
hard job keeping the babies cool.

Grannybags Sat 18-Jul-26 09:39:33

I remember '76 and the slogan "Save water, bath with a friend!"

andrea67 Sat 18-Jul-26 03:13:33

My son was born March 1976, s hot day and I spent all summer trying to keep him cool and out of the sun. Now he is 50yr, married with sons of his own.

Shinamae Wed 15-Jul-26 10:31:42

😎😎😎😎😎

jakuss Wed 15-Jul-26 10:24:48

It's called summer, no need to panic, it will be gone in a month people bok holidays abroad to get sun and heat, yet when we have a good summer it's moan moan moan

HelterSkelter1 Wed 15-Jul-26 07:07:30

Early days of pregnancy with DD1 and we spent 3 weeks in Corfu where the locals said how cold a summer they were having. So we mostly missed the heatwave here. We came back very brown but it wasnt as hot there as I had expected that year.
Mother in law stayed to feed our cat while we were away. She must have been very hot in our small house, but I wasnt very sympathetic in those days! I know how she must have felt now.

Our grass is like hay today, but the weeds still grow! The lavender is the best I have ever seen it flower wise, but is very dry stemmed. And hardly any bees when normally it is smothered.

luluaugust Wed 15-Jul-26 06:52:49

I was expecting baby no 3, things went wrong and I spent from July to September in hospital whilst my poor mum coped with two small girls.

Arto1s Tue 14-Jul-26 22:28:32

37 degrees here today, but as we live in California, we are pretty acclimated.

MT62 Tue 14-Jul-26 22:14:29

Casdon

I look back very happily at the summer of 76, I was still a teenager, and full of the joys of spring, I had a really great summer and was sad when it eventually rained. I wish I still had half that energy!

Me too. I remember bopping around to the bay city rollers on our lawn.
I also don’t remember not being able to sleep, unlike today 😩🥵

MT62 Tue 14-Jul-26 22:09:59

Padstow13

The most awful thing about 1976 was seeing lush green grass gradually turning to beige/brown straw. So unlovely at the height of Summer.

I was just going to say I remember every one’s lawn looking like hay.
Our grass today is very green, no sign of it going yellow yet.

Skynnylynny Tue 14-Jul-26 20:58:58

I had my varicose veins stripped in early summer 1976. Then I had to wear thick compression stockings for the next 3 months and walk at least 3 miles a day. I achieved the latter by walking to and from work and walking my children to and from school. I wore long cotton skirts to hide the stockings and they surprisingly were quite cooling causing a draught up my legs.

GrannyIvy Tue 14-Jul-26 20:03:01

I was 20 and had a lovely holiday in Bournemouth with a friend in June 1976 and a wonderful holiday romance (didn’t last after holiday) and met my DH in Sept 1976 and we married in the July 1977. It lasted and our 50th anniversary next July ❤️

Patsy70 Tue 14-Jul-26 20:00:18

A memorable year. My son and daughter were 5 and 4 years old and we spent time picking strawberries at a local farm.

pably15 Tue 14-Jul-26 19:45:25

my 3rd baby was born November 76, I remember that hot summer.

Fallingstar Tue 14-Jul-26 17:04:46

Was in my mid twenties in 1976, working in a secondary school in South East London. We had saved enough to own a Masionette in Sydenham after living with my DHs parents. We spent every evening and weekend stripping wallpaper and painting walls, happy days.

67notout Tue 14-Jul-26 16:34:47

A very dear friend died June 6 1976 and the poppies were absolutely everywhere. His mum said it looks like it will be a long summer, little did she know.

Mojack26 Tue 14-Jul-26 15:36:44

Not in Scotland that's for sure! 1976 wad a scorcherup hete! 😄. Loved it

Nvella Tue 14-Jul-26 15:26:18

Usedtobeblonde

I remember 76 so well and have said to family that this summer reminds me of that one.
It broke on a Saturday evening in September with a terrific thunderstorm.
We were having a fundraiser party in three gardens , we had taken the fence panels down between the gardens to make a large space and late in the evening the storm broke spectacularly.

I remember when that storm broke and we were with friends in Battersea and all ran out in the pouring rain and danced in the street!!

Susieq62 Tue 14-Jul-26 15:06:28

We moved house on the day it rained in September 1976!!

bookwormbabe Tue 14-Jul-26 15:04:53

I spent a month in St Malo in the summer of 76 on a French language course. Lessons in the morning, beach in the afternoon, plus several excursions laid on. It was dry and sunny, but not quite as hot as the UK. Happy times.

Bazza Tue 14-Jul-26 15:03:33

I had our second daughter in April 1976, I was thirty, and I loved that summer with a newborn and a three year old. The heat didn’t bother any of us. Moving on fifty years and I’m really struggling! Apparently old bodies need a lot more energy to regulate their core temperature, which would explain my lethargy. That’s my excuse for doing as little as possible.

AuntieE Tue 14-Jul-26 15:03:28

You all look back to 1976, but I remember 1980 and 1990 or 92 as being just as hot and one 90s summers was so dry the earth cracked before the rain came at the end of August.