1-6 and 2-7 July 1976
The only recorded instance of six consecutive days on which the temperature reached 90ºF (32.2ºC) in Gloucestershire and Sussex. This year was also the warmest summer with an average temperature of 17.4 ºC (63.3 ºF).

14 Aug 1979
A storm devastated the Fastnet Yacht Race off the south-west approaches: 19 yachts sank, with the loss of 15 lives.

Summer 1981
The coolest summer with an average temperature of only 14.1 ºC (57.3 ºF).

10 Jan 1982
The equal lowest air temperature recorded in Britain: -27.2ºC (-17ºF) at Braemar in Aberdeenshire, Scotland (see also 11 Feb 1895).

20 March 1986
The highest recorded wind speed in the British Isles: a gust of 278 kph (173 mph) in the Cairngorms in Scotland.

16 Oct 1987
The 1987 'Great Storm' hit southern England in the early hours. 19 people died in the worst storm since 1703. For the south-east it was the most devastating storm for over 250 years. It left 19 million trees felled and a £1.5 billion bill for insurance claims. It just about reached hurricane force - blowing at 124 kph (77 mph) - for at least 10 minutes at Gorleston in Norfolk and 137 kph (85 mph) at Dover in Kent. Some 3 million households and businesses were left without electricity, 150,000 telephones were cut off and many villages and towns were completely isolated by fallen trees, with 90 per cent of Kent's roads blocked.