The 1976 Drought

Even over a quarter of a century later, whenever there is a period of hot weather it is not long before the year of 1976 comes up in conversation. Day after day of hot sunshine from a clear blue sky was nothing short of a miracle for the holiday maker but a living hell for farmers and especially the fire fighter as our woods and heathland burned. Some rivers became little more than trickles.

The mean air pressure over this period was some five millibars above average. Sea surface temperature anomalies in the Atlantic and intensification of the mid latitude westerlies in the Pacific were thought to have helped maintain high pressure over or near to the British Isles.

There was a taste of things to come in early May 1976 when a short heat wave led to 29°C being recorded in Greater London and Kent. The real heat set in on the 23rd June and for 14 consecutive days the temperature topped 32°C at a number of places in southern England.

The longest run of days with no measurable rain was 45 at Milton Abbas, Dorset and Teignmouth, Devon, in July / August which came on top of three other periods of absolute drought including 17 days in April, 22 days spanning May / June and 19 days June / July.

The drought and great heat combined to provide the ideal conditions for the propagation of heath and forest fires and some proved devastating. As the Summer wore on the situation became ever more dangerous.

The county of Dorset was typical of the serious situation throughout England and Wales with fires breaking out on a daily basis. Some were extinguished only to start again the next day having smouldered underground through the peat soils.

One fire at Horton common was started when a whirlwind or dust-devil picked up embers from one burnt area only to deposit them on another part of the bone dry common starting a conflagration a mile wide. Another inferno destroyed 50,000 trees in Hurn Forest.

The main A31 road was closed and hundreds more people were moved from nearby caravan sites. At one point a military fuel dump near West Moors was almost encircled by flames. Altogether 250 firemen and 110 soldiers using 37 fire appliances and two 6,000 gallon milk tankers commandeered from the milk marketing board fought to control the blaze.

In Surrey, the Fire Brigade answered 11,000 fire related calls in five months. 22 Home Office Green Goddess pumping appliances were called in to help. Concern was expressed for the effect of the fires on the habitats of rare birds such as the Dartford Warbler.

As the ground dried out thousands of subsidence claims poured into insurance companies with buildings in clay areas particularly vulnerable. Overall costs amounted to £60 million. Agriculture suffered badly with £500 million worth of failed crops.

The peak of the drought coincided with the holiday season and much of the south west of Britain could not cope with the increased demand for water. A Drought Act was passed and half a million people in Wales suffered cuts to water supplies. Standpipes were in use in Devon. Throughout Britain people became adept in saving water including British Rail who stopped washing their trains.