With rising temperatures bringing both enjoyment and problems to north-east residents – just as it did more than forty years ago.
A nationwide heatwave in 1976 led to the hottest temperatures since records began with people flocking to beaches, ice cream shops and parks.
At the same time, a severe drought was wreaking havoc throughout the region.
The sun reached Aberdeen on June 27 with a high of 22.8 degrees celsius reported, while on the same day in Lossiemouth, temperatures reached 25 degrees.
Almost identical temperatures were reported for the same dates in 2018.
Last Monday firefighters battled a huge gorse fire outside of Aberdeen between Newhills, Bucksburn and Kingswells.
On the same date, July 3, in 1976, a similar blaze took place.
Fire units from four stations were sent to contain a large woodland fire between Grange and Keith.
Scotland’s newspapers, including the Press and Journal and The Sunday Post, reported the words of Arthur Cuthbert, Forestry Commission district officer for Aberdeenshire and Banffshire, who suggested lit cigarettes thrown from car windows may have sparked the blaze.
Less than a week later on July 8, 1976, a major fire ravaged a forest in Carrbridge in the Scottish Highlands. The smoke could be seen from over twenty miles away and it forced the closure of the A9.
Just over 36 hours after the blaze started, firefighters and volunteers were graced with rainfall and were finally able to quell the flames.
The fine weather continued until the last week of August 1976, when severe thunderstorms brought ample amounts of rain to Scotland.
September and October of the same year were very wet and definitively brought the drought to an end, though for many the damage had already been done.
RJ Smith, writing in the Press and Journal on July 3, 1976, described plants lost to the sun as “heat wave casualties”.
A plant disorder called ‘blossom end rot’ caused by the heatwave killed hundreds of flowers and plants across the region.
It was reported that fields were so parched that many crops failed, affecting the farming trade throughout the rest of the year.
Food shortages led to prices rising across the north-east. The popularity of salad ingredients resulted in fresh fruit and vegetable prices rising substantially.
While this year’s heatwave has already brought the highest temperatures recorded in years, it still does not quite compare to its 70s equivalent.
In 1976 there were 15 consecutive days when temperatures reached 32 degrees or higher somewhere in the UK.
This year, there have only been two consecutive days of the same nature – June 28 and June 29.
