heatwaves 2026

[Astoness]

hi folks well we are now in our 3rd heatwave of the year so just to say to all of our members take care...like most you i remember the summer of 1976 and thinking back i wonder how on earth we coped but i guess as we were younger back then and didnt have so many health issues it was easier for us..please post your memories if you wish and also any tips to help stay cool

lyn

 

[Pedrocut]

Remember In August 1976, the Labour government appointed Denis Howell as Minister for Drought. It was a specially created post to coordinate the response to the severe water shortages affecting much of England and Wales.

Then came the irony for which he is still remembered. Within days of his appointment, the weather changed. September brought heavy rain, reservoirs began to recover, and the newspapers dubbed him the “Minister of Rain.” The coincidence became one of the best-known weather-related jokes in British political history.

 

[Pedrocut]

30 June 1976, Birmingham Daily Post.

 

[Barbara Tarbuck]

I remember in 1976 there were many butterflies. The garden next door had many pear trees and the pears had fermented. The butterflies were 'drunk' after feeding off them. There were hundreds. This year where are all the butterflies?

 

[pjmburns]

We are now seeing a load of butterflies. Both in the garden and on the park opposite.
The "gatekeepers" have arrived.

 

[John L]

hi folks well we are now in our 3rd heatwave of the year so just to say to all of our members take care...like most you i remember the summer of 1976 and thinking back i wonder how on earth we coped but i guess as we were younger back then and didnt have so many health issues it was easier for us..please post your memories if you wish and also any tips to help stay cool

lyn

Yes, we didn't have the "Nanny State" warning us that it was too cold, too hot or too something else either, Lyn. Our parents and grandparents just got on with it, my Dad would just roll his shirt sleeves up and go about his day as normal, with perhaps the help of a block of ice cream and some wafers .

Back in the 70s, I thought nothing of spending 5 hours plus in the blazing sun, when playing parks cricket, or of spending the entire day playing 36 holes of golf. In the 60s, I spent all of my time outside playing football or cricket too. How I miss that, but what memories of running tirelessly and never feeling out of breath, unlike today when just walking in itself, seems so demanding, what I was able to do without a thought back then.

Keep hydrated everyone and remember that doing things in hot weather takes more out of us, than doing the same thing at other times does.

 

[Astoness]

nice memories john and aso wise words

lyn

 

[Barbara Tarbuck]

Glad to here there are butterflies in Birmingham. Please send some our way ~ we boarder Staffordshire ~ all gone despite a big garden full of flowers. The bees are few too

 

[mikejee]

Plant some buddlea. That might help, though you will have to deal with all the extra little infant buddlea which will try and inhabit your garden

 

[davedgibson]

I got spoke to a groundskeeper at The National Trust Calke Abbey, and he said to keep the grass long in a heatwave even if it looks dead, because the long grass helps to protect the soil underneath and stops it turning to dust.

 

[Astoness]

I got spoke to a groundskeeper at The National Trust Calke Abbey, and he said to keep the grass long in a heatwave even if it looks dead, because the long grass helps to protect the soil underneath and stops it turning to dust.

thanks dave that is a useful tip

lyn

 

[Lemonella]

thanks dave that is a useful tip

lyn

That's good advice, but our council came round last week to cut grass verges that were already short and looking as pale as hay. They always seem to do things that don't need doing so that they can just be seen out and about.

 

[Lemonella]

Glad to here there are butterflies in Birmingham. Please send some our way ~ we boarder Staffordshire ~ all gone despite a big garden full of flowers. The bees are few too

I was just reading in the news about how the bees suffer in the heat because of their thick coats. I am trying to keep my flowers going for them.

 

[Barbara Tarbuck]

I was just reading in the news about how the bees suffer in the heat because of their thick coats. I am trying to keep my flowers going for them.

dont forget they need water too. I have found using different container depths/sizes a variety of wild life drink from them, including a woodpecker and a rat!! I have still only seen 2 butterflies in my garden in 2026

 

[Smudger]

Yes, we didn't have the "Nanny State" warning us that it was too cold, too hot or too something else either, Lyn. Our parents and grandparents just got on with it, my Dad would just roll his shirt sleeves up and go about his day as normal, with perhaps the help of a block of ice cream and some wafers .

Back in the 70s, I thought nothing of spending 5 hours plus in the blazing sun, when playing parks cricket, or of spending the entire day playing 36 holes of golf. In the 60s, I spent all of my time outside playing football or cricket too. How I miss that, but what memories of running tirelessly and never feeling out of breath, unlike today when just walking in itself, seems so demanding, what I was able to do without a thought back then.

Keep hydrated everyone and remember that doing things in hot weather takes more out of us, than doing the same thing at other times does.

What`s a heatwave? I live in the n/e not far from the coast & up till these past few days it`s been very chilly with the wind coming off the north sea. I love the hot weather & just wish i could i could still travel to lovely hot Greece.