Britain's boiling point! Fish are saved after 86F highs cause river to DRY UP as UK faces longest heatwave since summer of 1976

  • 130 trout and salmon rescued from River Teme on Shropshire/Hereford border before it dried up 
  • 'Sky high' pollen counts could ruin the next few days for millions of hay fever and asthma sufferers
  • Households could face water shortage with providers urging families to put away garden sprinklers
  • Hottest day of 2018 so far for the fourth consecutive day yesterday, as North Wales hit 91.4F (33C)

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Britain faces a scorching weekend as the country faces its longest heatwave since 1976, with temperatures staying at 86F (30C) and fish now under serious threat from rivers drying up.

On the Shropshire/Hereford border this week, more than 130 trout and salmon have been rescued from the River Teme - just in time to save their lives, because the pools the fish were in had completely dried up 24 hours later.

Environment Agency staff had to act quickly, with the Upper River Teme now just a dry bed of pebbles. Local EA manager Dave Throup said it showed why workers 'have to move quickly on fish rescues'.

The team used waders and nets to scoop out the fish before taking them downstream – but there are fears that the continuous dry weather could cause similar problems, with the Upper River Wye also currently at a low level. 

Meanwhile 'sky high' pollen counts could ruin the next few days for millions of hay fever and asthma sufferers across the UK, who have been warned to keep windows and doors shut and take antihistamines to stay safe. 

Tombstoners jump from high cliffs to cool off during the heatwave at a former quarry in Mugdock country park near Glasgow in Scotland
Tombstoners jump from high cliffs to cool off during the heatwave at a former quarry in Mugdock country park near Glasgow in Scotland

Tombstoners jump from high cliffs to cool off during the heatwave at a former quarry in Mugdock country park near Glasgow in Scotland

Tombstoners jump from high cliffs to cool off during the heatwave at a former quarry in Mugdock country park near Glasgow in Scotland

Tombstoners jump from high cliffs to cool off during the heatwave at a former quarry in Mugdock country park near Glasgow in Scotland

The River Teme on the Shropshire/Hereford border has dried up
The water levels have fallen on the River Teme

Two photographs taken on the River Teme on the Shropshire/Hereford border this week show how the water levels have fallen

Environment Agency staff had to act quickly to save the salmon, with the Upper River Teme now just a dry bed of pebbles

Environment Agency staff had to act quickly to save the salmon, with the Upper River Teme now just a dry bed of pebbles

The team used waders and nets to scoop out the fish from the Upper River Teme before taking them downstream

The team used waders and nets to scoop out the fish from the Upper River Teme before taking them downstream

The fish in the Teme were scooped out just in time, because the pools that they were in had dried up 24 hours later

The fish in the Teme were scooped out just in time, because the pools that they were in had dried up 24 hours later

A man looks out with binoculars over Engine Pool fishing lake in Earlswood, Worcestershire, which is abnormally low today

A man looks out with binoculars over Engine Pool fishing lake in Earlswood, Worcestershire, which is abnormally low today

The Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit found the pollen count in Britain is expected to be very high in the coming days as the warm weather causes grass pollen to rise and the number of spores will be high.

Households could also face a water shortage as the country heads towards its driest June in 90 years, with providers urging families to put away garden sprinklers and take four-minute showers instead of baths.

Firms warned families and businesses could be hit with restrictions on how much water they run from the taps, and have also told homeowners to avoid using hoses to clean cars or water the plants.

In Birmingham, outreach workers have handed out water to the city's homeless amid fears they are particularly vulnerable to dehydration, subnurn and heat exhausation. 

Sarah, a woman from the city in her 30s, told the BBC: 'If I go into a shop or cafe and try and ask for a glass of water, they always say no. If people think you're homeless, they just won't help you. If someone who didn't look homeless went in and asked for water, they'd get it. It's so frustrating.'

Tracey Patterson, founder of Birmingham Homeless Support, said: 'I couldn't believe how some people hadn't had a drink for hours and hours.

'One woman we saw was so badly sunburned, all we could do was get her aftersun cream and try and keep her in the shade. We gave out suncream to the rest. The conditions are horrendous out there.'

Public Health England has now advised local authorities to consider the homeless as part of the government's heat wave plan for England.

A woman sits on another's shoulders as fans listen to performances from the main stage at Trnsmt festival in Glasgow

A woman sits on another's shoulders as fans listen to performances from the main stage at Trnsmt festival in Glasgow today

A couple enjoy the sunshine on the boating lake at Regents Park in London today as the heatwave continues

A couple enjoy the sunshine on the boating lake at Regents Park in London today as the heatwave continues

A Londoner enjoys the continuing hot weather in Hyde Park as temperatures remain high across the country

A Londoner enjoys the continuing hot weather in Hyde Park as temperatures remain high across the country

People enjoy the hot weather at Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire as the heatwave continues today

People enjoy the hot weather at Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire as the heatwave continues today

Meanwhile Network Rail has also painted rails white at critical points around the network.

The white paint prevents the rail absorbing as much heat and can keep it between five and ten degrees cooler than an unpainted rail, reducing expansion and helping to prevent signalling problems and buckled rails. 

The heatwave has also had an unusual effect at a Morrisons car park in Wells, Somerset, after trees starting shedding thousands of leaves due to a lack of water - while roads have been melting in Exmoor, Devon.

It comes after the hottest day of 2018 so far was observed for the fourth consecutive day yesterday, as Porthmadog in North Wales hit 91.4F (33C) – beating its own record set the previous day of 89.4F (31.9C). 

Britain is now in its longest heatwave since 1976, the notorious summer when a lioness fainted and the surface of the M1 buckled and cracked as the UK recorded its hottest summer average temperature on record. 

Asthma UK said pollen levels are 'sky high at the moment and causing misery for millions of people with asthma'. The charity said an estimated 3.3million Britons who have asthma say their pollen allergy triggers their asthma.

It said sufferers are therefore at risk of a life-threatening asthma attack, and warned them to take appropriate medications including nasal steroid sprays during what is currently peak grass pollen season. 

It comes after the wet weather in the spring helped the grass grow, and the pollen is now being released – a process helped by this week's sunshine, before it is blown around by a breeze that is expected this weekend.

The Met Office said yesterday was the first time in five years that temperatures have hit 86F (30C) in all four nations of the UK – and temperatures are expected to make it up to the same level again today.

Met Office forecaster Helen Roberts said: 'There's not an awful lot of change to be honest. Certainly today it's going to be a repeat performance in terms of an awful lot of sunshine right the way across the UK.'  

Two young women are among the thousands of people descending onto Glasgow Green for Trnsmt festival today

Two young women are among the thousands of people descending onto Glasgow Green for Trnsmt festival today

Revellers enjoy the music at Trnsmt festival, with acts including Blossoms, Arctic Monkeys and Interpol

Revellers enjoy the music at Trnsmt festival today, with acts including Blossoms, Arctic Monkeys and Interpol

A music fan enjoys an ice-cream at the main stage during Trnsmt festival in Glasgow this afternoon

A music fan enjoys an ice-cream at the main stage during Trnsmt festival in Glasgow this afternoon

The heatwave has had an odd effect at a car park in Wells, Somerset, after trees starting shedding thousands of leaves

The heatwave has had an odd effect at a car park in Wells, Somerset, after trees starting shedding thousands of leaves

Trees starting shedding their leaves at the Morrisons car park in Wells due to a lack of water in the drought-like conditions

Trees starting shedding their leaves at the Morrisons car park in Wells due to a lack of water in the drought-like conditions

The phenomenon usually seen in autumn has hit the trees and shrubs at the supermarket car park in Wells, Somerset

The phenomenon usually seen in autumn has hit the trees and shrubs at the supermarket car park in Wells, Somerset

A post office worker spotted that this road in the village of Heasley Moor on the edge of Exmoor in Devon had started to melt

A post office worker spotted that this road in the village of Heasley Moor on the edge of Exmoor in Devon had started to melt

She said an exception would be parts of the eastern coast where low cloud will bring temperatures down, but North West England, North East Wales, western Scotland and possibly Northern Ireland could hit 86F (30C) today.

Eight days of rising top temperatures in Britain

LAST WEEK

Thursday 70F (21.1C) London

Friday 74.1F (23.4C) Wiggonholt

Saturday 76.3F (24.6C) Boscombe

Sunday 79.7F (26.5C) London

THIS WEEK 

Monday 86.2F (30.1C) Hampton

Tuesday 87.4F (30.8C) Rostherne

Wednesday 89.4F (31.9C) Porthmadog

Thursday 91.4F (33C) Porthmadog

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The forecaster said there will only be 'subtle' changes over the weekend, with very warm temperatures across most of the UK, but today would be 'another pretty hot day for most'.

'We might start to get the risk of some thundery showers, particularly on Sunday, predominantly across the far south-west of the UK, so probably Cornwall is most likely to see any of that,' Ms Roberts said. 

Parts of Staffordshire and Shropshire have already seen supplies temporarily interrupted as a result of high demand, prompting Severn Water to set up bottled water collection points 'as a precaution'.

Tanker crews have injected water directly into pipes in the region to keep customers supplied with water. Southern Water said the country was 'hitting peak demand for water'.

The firm encouraged families to take 'simple measures such as turning off taps when you're brushing your teeth, swapping a bath for a four-minute shower and watering your garden with harvested rain'.

The dry spell is also expected to continue after the Met Office downgraded an earlier forecast for thunderstorms, saying it was now 'less likely' – and will probably only now affect the South West of England. 

Sue Cullen (front) helps guide her brother-in-law's narrow boat on the Kennet and Avon canal, near Devizes in Wiltshire today

Sue Cullen (front) helps guide her brother-in-law's narrow boat on the Kennet and Avon canal, near Devizes in Wiltshire today

People enjoy the fine weather as they visit Kynance Cove on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall today

People enjoy the fine weather as they visit Kynance Cove on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall today

The heatwave continues in Manchester city centre as people sit in the sunshine today and enjoy the weather

The heatwave continues in Manchester city centre as people sit in the sunshine today and enjoy the weather

Manchester office worker Danielle Tompkins soaks up the sun on her lunch break today, as the heatwave continues in the city

Manchester office worker Danielle Tompkins soaks up the sun on her lunch break today, as the heatwave continues in the city

City workers and tourists enjoy another hot day at Granary Square in London today, sitting on coloured cushions

City workers and tourists enjoy another hot day at Granary Square in London today, sitting on coloured cushions

People enjoy the hot weather on the water in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, as the heatwave continues

People enjoy the hot weather on the water in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, as the heatwave continues

A gritter is sent out in Cumbria to protect the road surface as some streets have become so hot they are melting

A gritter is sent out in Cumbria today to protect the road surface as some streets have become so hot they are melting

A woman walks beside the Serpentine at Hyde Park in London today as the scorching weather is set to continue

A woman walks beside the Serpentine at Hyde Park in London today as the scorching weather is set to continue

Joggers run beside the Serpentine in Hyde Park  today as temperatures are forecast to remain high into the weekend

Joggers run beside the Serpentine in Hyde Park  today as temperatures are forecast to remain high into the weekend

Meteorologist Bonnie Diamond said: 'It's staying sunny and warm and dry for most (into next week). There is a small risk of seeing some showers developing in the far south-west but otherwise it will be dry.'

Man in his 20s dies after struggling in reservoir as heatwave death toll hits 6

The heatwave has now claimed at least six casualties.

News of the sixth death emerged this afternoon as it was revealed emergency services were called to Audenshaw Reservoir at 3.20pm yesterday after reports someone had got into difficulty in the water.

The man, 20, was recovered from the scene - where swimming is not allowed - and taken to hospital where he later died. 

Emergency services were called to Audenshaw Reservoir yesterday after reports someone had got into difficulty in the water

Emergency services were called to Audenshaw Reservoir yesterday after reports someone had got into difficulty in the water

It comes after police said yesterday that a 70-year-old cyclist died after he collapsed on a bike path in Cymmer, South Wales, on Tuesday.

The body of Ryan Evans, 13, was recovered from Westport Lake, Stoke-on-Trent, on Wednesday night. The body of a 17-year-old boy was also recovered from the River Aire in Leeds on Wednesday morning.

Both teenagers are believed to have got into difficulties after going for a swim. In a fourth incident, the body of a man was recovered from a lake in Nutfield, Surrey, on Monday.

Also earlier this week, a woman drowned while swimming in the sea off Eastbourne near the resort's Western Parade.

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The Met Office's heat-health watch alert remains at level two, meaning social and healthcare services are at the ready to reduce harm from a potential heatwave. Public Health England has issued a warning saying the extreme heat may pose a risk to the most vulnerable.

The rising temperatures have come with warnings to be careful near water and in the countryside, where fire crews have been tackling wildfires.

Meanwhile fire chiefs warned the devastating blaze at Saddleworth Moor in the Peak District, which started on Sunday, could continue for weeks unless there was a significant downpour of rain.

Forecasters have said no rain is predicted in the area for at least a week. However, the hot weather is good news for the country's gardeners, as horticulturalists said it could deliver a bumper crop of fruit and veg.

The sunshine can fill potatoes with starch, carrots and beetroots with sugar, ripen fruit such as tomatoes with good flavour, and help tender crops such as figs and pumpkins, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) said. 

The conditions are also good for flowers such as canna, dahlias, petunias and marigolds. But the National Farmers' Union warned that a lack of rain could lead to smaller harvests, especially for crops hit by the year's cold wet start.

Meanwhile the RSPCA called on pet owners to keep a close eye on their animals in the heat after receiving 625 calls about animals in hot environments between June 11 and 24 - the majority about dogs in hot cars.

The RNLI has urged those heading to the seaside to seek out beaches with a lifeguard. Commuters have endured delays after rail services were forced to impose speed limits due to overheating tracks.

South Western Railway said track temperatures were expected to reach 117F (47C) on many parts of its route this week. Services on the London Waterloo to New Malden line are facing speed restrictions from 11am each day.

Yesterday, Scotland's top temperature was 89.4F (31.9C) in Glasgow, England's top temperature was 87.1F (30.6C) in Keswick and Northern Ireland's top temperature was 86.9F (30.5C) in Derrylin.

School SCRAPS pupils’ uniforms as temperatures soar to over 90F (and teachers are getting in on the act too)… so do YOU approve?

A school has decided to temporarily scrap its uniform to help students keep cool during the heatwave.

Pupils at West Park School in Spondon, Derby, have been told they can leave their formal school uniforms at home and wear their PE kits.

Staff have also been wearing less formal attire to school and headmaster Brian Walker, who put the idea forward, has gone tie-less for the first time in 45 years.

Pupils at West Park School in Spondon, Derby, have been told they can leave their formal school uniforms at home and wear their PE kits

Pupils at West Park School in Spondon, Derby, have been told they can leave their formal school uniforms at home and wear their PE kits

He said: 'The weather we have experienced is extraordinarily hot and, as this is an old building, on some days it is not as cool as many modern day air-conditioned buildings.

'Therefore, we are doing everything we can to ensure that our pupils have the best learning environment possible.

'We have taken the decision to let them come to school, if they wish, in their PE kits, as long as they bring a second kit should they have PE that day, to optimise their learning.

'It must be their PE kit - they must still be part of the values of the school. They can't wear their T-shirts or Bermuda shorts. While the children are at school, we want to care for them.'

Headmaster Brian Walker, who put the idea forward, said he has now gone tie-less for the first time in 45 years

Headmaster Brian Walker, who put the idea forward, said he has now gone tie-less for the first time in 45 years

The students attended school on Monday in their normal uniforms, which consists of black trousers, a white polo shirt and dark-coloured shoes for boys and black trousers or a skirt, white polo shirt and dark-coloured shoes for girls.

But as the heat increased, it was decided that the students could wear their PE kits from Tuesday and many have taken up the offer.

Mr Walker said: 'Many were getting hot and bothered on Monday and they started wearing their kits on Tuesday. If you walk around the school classrooms now, you can hear the hum of learning as you would do on any normal day at school.

'A lot of the students have taken up the offer, but is their choice and if they don't want to then they can come in their uniform, whatever is comfortable for them.

The school in Derby has decided to temporarily scrap its uniform to help students keep cool during the heatwave

The school in Derby has decided to temporarily scrap its uniform to help students keep cool during the heatwave

'The staff have joined in too and, I must confess, this is the first day in 45 years that I have not worn a tie as the conditions are so hot.'

Pupils at the school have praised the headmaster for letting them wear their PE kits. Matty Ferguson, 12, said: 'I think it is a really good idea and has really helped me keep cool. The weather has been really nice over the last few days.

'But we were getting hot and bothered at school and wearing the PE kits have made it much easier to do our work in lesson.'

The school will be reassessing each day on the weather situation and says it will inform parents either through texts or on its Facebook page of any updates.

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What do YOU remember about the scorching summer of 1976? Bask in this magical slice of nostalgia from a very different Britain

By BRIAN VINER FOR THE DAILY MAIL 

A lioness fainted in Norwich. In Yorkshire, the surface of the M1 started to buckle andto crack. Proceedings inthe notorious 'Black Panther' murder trial at Oxford Crown Court had to be suspended while a woman was carried out of the public gallery suffering from 'heat exhaustion'.

At the Wimbledon tennis championships, umpires were allowed to remove their jackets for the first time in living memory and at a Newcastle hospital, laundry staff walked out complaining of intolerable temperatures.

On Merseyside, the AA reported: 'Nearly every major road was littered with overheated cars.' And it wasn't just cars that were overheating. In Hampshire, there was a 'tremendous upsurge' in 999 calls to domestic disturbances.

Three women go for a paddle at Trafalgar Square in London, with the old iconic Bovril advert in the background

Three women go for a paddle at Trafalgar Square in London, with the old iconic Bovril advert in the background

Meanwhile, fire raged across Bellerby Moor in North Yorkshire. It was the most extraordinary 24 hours of an extraordinary summer, and it was June 25, 1976 — 40 years ago today.

But the stories from around the country that day — in some parts of Britain, the hottest recorded, with temperatures pushing 100 degrees fahrenheit — don't just show the intensity of the epic heatwave that had begun two weeks earlier and would last until the end of August, causing the worst drought in England in 300 years.

They illustrate what a very different country it was from the one we inhabit now: more innocent, less knowing and sophisticated.

The Southern Echo newspaper proclaimed 'the Tropic of Hampshire', and quoted the manager of the Cowherds pub overlooking Southampton Common, who said the heatwave was having a 'quite ridiculous' effect on customers, who were asking for up to 'six lumps of ice in their drinks, instead of the usual one'.

Any kind of drinks would have done for the hundreds trapped for an hour and a half on five Tube trains backed up between Finchley Road and Baker Street stations on what was then the Bakerloo Line, following a signal failure at 10.34am.

Packed roads into coastal towns were described as 'a giant centipede of steel' - and there were thousands of breakdowns

Packed roads into coastal towns were described as 'a giant centipede of steel' - and there were thousands of breakdowns

On the day that the London-set horror film The Omen went on worldwide release, the real horrors in the capital were underground, where dozens of passengers fainted and others stripped to their underwear.

The suffocating heat was alleviated only slightly when people started smashing windows, initiated by a man later described as 'a blond sun-tanned giant, bare to the waist' who began swinging from two straps, launching himself at the glass.

Next day, one passenger described the nightmare: 'In our carriage, the first window shattering, which seemed to set the fashion for the rest, came approximately 50 minutes after the train had juddered to a halt and some time after the first fainting fit.

'The blond man glanced at the fainting woman, muttered something inaudible and let fly with his foot at the glass. Everybody else, brushing glass off each other, said that it was a very good idea, but we wished he'd warned us first.

'After that, every few minutes or so, we would hear distant tinkling sounds from up and down the tunnel. As more windows hit the track it made things a little less hot but not much.' Eventually, just after noon, the stricken trains limped into Baker Street station having taken 90 minutes in life-threatening conditions to complete an eight-minute journey.

Children play in the fountains at Trafalgar Square, with the National Gallery and St-Martin-In-The-Fields in the background

Children play in the fountains at Trafalgar Square, with the National Gallery and St-Martin-In-The-Fields in the background

If today's compensation culture had prevailed back then, who knows what claims would have followed? Yet London Transport, far from offering compensation, scarcely even mustered an apology, pointing out tersely that nobody required hospital treatment.

It was a day on which those who sought respite from the remarkable heat had to pay a price. At Southampton Lido — on a weekday, remember — people queued for three hours to get in. On the coastbound carriageway of the M5 in Devon, there was a 17-mile tailback (or 'bumper-to-bumper queue', as it was then known). Indeed, that Friday was the prelude to a weekend which saw more cars on Britain's roads than ever before, an estimated eight million, described by the RAC as 'the biggest motoring bonanza ever'.

Packed roads into Margate and Brighton were described as 'a giant centipede of steel'. Inevitably, there were thousands of breakdowns.

For the AA in the Midlands, June 25 was the busiest day of the year so far, and the burns unit at Birmingham Accident Hospital reported more than 20 cases of motorists scalding themselves by removing radiator caps after their cars had overheated (those were hands-on times).

The AA warned motorists: 'Flush your radiator regularly, empty out the anti-freeze and check your fan belt.' cars did not have air-conditioning and neither did most department stores. In Southampton city centre, only Debenhams had air-conditioning, installed at considerable cost eight months earlier — but it was too expensive to switch on.

Tap water was rationed in some areas and dramatic plans were drawn up to run a pipeline along the outside lane of the M5

Tap water was rationed in some areas and dramatic plans were drawn up to run a pipeline along the outside lane of the M5

An hour's use would exert the same strain on the electricity tariff as 'maximum demand' for an entire month, costing the then unimaginably extravagant sum of £2,500. 'We didn't appreciate the full implications,' said the store manager.

The sweltering temperatures afflicted even buildings where really serious business was going on.

At Oxford Crown Court, the judge inthe trial of kidnapper Donald Nielson, who was nicknamed the Black Panther and accused of murdering coach-company heiress Lesley Whittle, 17, ruled that most of the hearing should take place in the morning, before the heat got too intense.

However, the trial still had to be suspended when the woman in the public gallery fainted. It was the proceedings in another courtroom that blistering Friday, however, that properly showed how dangerous the heat could be. At an inquest in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, the coroner recorded a verdict of death by misadventure on 16-year-old Stephen Drinkwater who, the week before, had dived into the River Ouse to cool off after spending the day, during a break in his O-Level exams, working in a nursery greenhouse in temperatures of up to 95F.

The sudden shock of the cold water triggered a fatal heart attack. Animals were also at terrible risk, even those expected to cope with the heat. At Roberts Brothers Circus in Norwich, it all got too much for Roberta the lioness, who fainted and came round only when a bucket of water was thrown over her.

A woman smiles for the camera as she enjoys a dip in the fountains at Trafalgar Square during the heatwave

A woman smiles for the camera as she enjoys a dip in the fountains at Trafalgar Square during the heatwave

At nearby Norwich market that morning, potatoes cost only 8p a pound, having been 13p a pound a week earlier. This was deeply worrying for growers, forced to deal with a glut because the weather had brought the crop to early maturity.

The situation wasn't quite as promising as it seemed for shoppers, either. In other parts of eastern England the price of potatoes had dropped so low that many farmers stopped lifting them.

The farmers were facing all sorts of headaches; perhaps it seemed symbolic to them that The Wurzels song I've Got A Brand New Combine Harvester had just been knocked off number one in the charts.

More probably, they didn't notice. They had other problems, the National Farmers' Union lamenting that, because the grass wasn't growing, their members were having to feed the cattle with hay that, in a normal year, would be stored until the autumn.

By that Friday, the heatwave was still only a fortnight old in England and Wales, and only just reaching Scotland, where 'around 50' antiapartheid protestors turned up to heckle French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, as he arrived in Edinburgh to meet the Queen, whose 'brilliant yellow dress and yellow turban-style hat' perfectly matched the dazzling sunshine.

Sunbathers make the most of the heatwave in 1976, which caused the worst drought in England in 300 years

Sunbathers make the most of the heatwave in 1976, which caused the worst drought in England in 300 years

In Scotland, as elsewhere, just about everyone expected the freakish weather to break at some point, but already there were dire warnings that Britain was on the verge of suffering the most severe drought for centuries.

While the Wessex Water Authority began a 'frantic' search for 'new sources', the Anglian Water Authority announced a hosepipe ban. There was one already in the Bristol area, saving an estimated million gallons a day. It wasn't nearly enough though.

A Bristol Waterworks Company spokesman went on local TV news to explain that reservoirs, already low after a dry summer the year before, were losing nearly six million gallons a day through evaporation.

Soon, hosepipe bans would spread to the rest of the country, with tap water rationed in some areas and dramatic plans even drawn up to run a pipeline along the outside lane of the M5, so that water might be pumped from the Midlands to the stricken South-West.

Not that the Midlands weren't parched. The June 25 editorial in the Birmingham Post, unwittingly hinting at the climate-change debate that rages today, asked whether 'some radical change' might be taking place in 'the weather pattern of the British Isles and Western Europe'. Its verdict was that it was 'far too soon' to draw conclusions.

For those who didn't cool off, with short measures of ice-cream or anything else, the heat was overwhelming everywhere

For those who didn't cool off, with short measures of ice-cream or anything else, the heat was overwhelming everywhere

Nevertheless, it is odd now to look back and see how much trouble the 1976 heatwave caused, at least for those of us who were children at the time, and recall it with fondness.

Trying to mitigate the effect of the sun could be fun in itself. The most widely reported piece of medical advice that Friday came from a casualty doctor at London's Charing Cross Hospital who solemnly recommended a pint of beer and a packet of crisps 'to replace the liquid and salt you lose through sweating'.

In Huddersfield on the same day, soft drinks manufacturer Benjamin Shaw & Sons proudly declared that it was increasing output by 100 per cent. And the Wall's ice-cream factory in Gloucester reported an 'all-time peak' in production.

Not even ice-cream was without its controversies, however. Gwilym Roberts, the Labour MP for Cannock, was quoted inthe Yorkshire Post deploring reprehensible vendors' tactic of 'fobbing kids off with smaller dollops in their icecream cornets than they dare give grown-ups for the same money'. He vowed to raise the matter with Prices Secretary, Shirley Williams.

For those who didn't cool off, with short measures of ice-cream or anything else, the heat was overwhelming just about everywhere.

It is odd now to look back and see how much trouble the 1976 heatwave caused, and recall it with fondness

It is odd now to look back and see how much trouble the 1976 heatwave caused, and recall it with fondness

At Wimbledon, in the hottest conditions anyone could remember, dozens of people were treated for sunstroke. An Egyptian spectator caught pinching women's bottoms turned out to be an official at the Egyptian Embassy who promptly claimed diplomatic immunity. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'There was nothing we could do.'

On Centre Court the next day, a young Englishwoman took advantage of the debilitating heat; 20-year-old Sue Barker storming back from a set and two games down to beat Maria Bueno 2-6 6-2 6-1. Bueno, 36, from Brazil, later said that, like a flower, she had wilted in the sun.

For Miss Barker, who was already that year's French Open champion, victory came as consolation after the announcement on Friday, from Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Burnett, chairman of the All-England Club, that he would not give in to the women's demands for the same prize money as the men; they got £10,000 against the men's £12,500.

'You are not worth the same,' he said. 'You don't work as hard, and in the early rounds especially your matches aren't as attractive.'

This year, both men and women winners will each get £2.25million. Those truly were different times.

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