The M.E.N's chief reporter Neal Keeling looks back on that epic drought
Two things were inescapable in the long hot summer of 1976 - the energy-sapping heat and that twee Number One by Elton John and Kiki Dee - Don't Go Breaking My Heart - blaring from every radio.
The highest temperature recorded in June 1976 was 35.6 C in Southampton on the 28th. Whilst 35.9 C, recorded in Cheltenham, was the highest July temperature that year. Then the mercury really began to climb as we basked in June and July. The heat caused permanent changes to British forests. Scientists found that the long dry spell of 1976 - the UK’s most intense drought between 1914 and 2006 - killed off many drought-sensitive beech trees.
The Rolling Stones were on tour, I saw them in a sweat-pit of a former abattoir in Stafford that summer. The band were one hour late coming on and in a surreal moment the venue's lights came on halfway through Street Fighting Man as a bloke announced the last train to Birmingham was leaving in 20 minutes.
In 1976 the AA reported being called to 1,500 breakdowns caused by overheated engines. Passengers were left stranded for hours in stifling heat on the London Underground due to signal failure.
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