2025-08-15

Why your nostalgia for the summer of 1976 is wrong

That year’s heatwave may remain a cultural reference point, but compared to today’s climate it doesn’t look so special

People taking respite in the fountains at Trafalgar Square during the heatwave of 1976 Credit: Getty

The further away the long, steamy summer of 1976 gets, the greater its mythical status becomes, it seems. Every time the thermometer pushes 30 degrees, hoary phrases like “but it isn’t as hot as it was back then” or “we survived 1976, it can’t get worse” are wheeled out with remarkable regularity.

But a closer look at historical weather data reveals a more complicated picture. In many ways, the summer of 1976 was Britain’s first real taste of a new normal. While it was undeniably hot and dry by the standards of the time, recent years have delivered summers that match – or even surpass – its extremes.