DEATHS, RIOTS AND A PLAGUE OF LADYBIRDS

THEN: The heat prompted serious fires in Southern England, the tarmac on the M1 melted and a study of the population of Birmingham found the average daily number of deaths rose by nearly 20 per cent, with the excess deaths mainly among elderly men and women with cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease.

Crops failed, causing food prices to rise by 12 per cent, while swarms of some 23.65 billion seven-spotted ladybirds filled Southern and Eastern England in search of aphids that had been destroyed by the heat.

The heatwave also led to an outbreak of antisocial behaviour — there was an increase in deaths from violence among men aged 20 to 39 and riots broke out at the sweltering Notting Hill carnival. A man coined the ‘ heatwave rapist ’ attacked Birmingham women who left their windows open at night in their beds.

NOW: Think we might have mastered the heat by now? Think again. Gritters are out to protect the road surface as some roads have melted in the heat, while train tracks are buckling causing lengthy delays.

Passengers have been stuck on the London Underground in temperatures as high as 35.4C — five degrees hotter than the legal maximum for transporting cattle.

The fires on Saddleworth Moor near Manchester could take months to extinguish; the RSPB has warned high temperatures pose a threat to garden birds such as robins, blue tits and blackbirds and the RSPCA has received 625 calls in two weeks about distressed animals — mostly dogs in cars.

Perhaps the odd thundery shower would be welcome after all.