Heatwave stirs memories of hot weather 35 years ago

Courier Country is on heatwave alert but it’s unlikely to spark the kind of apocalyptic scenes experienced exactly 35 years ago.

In June 1983 Tayside and Fife were caught in the middle of a UK and Ireland heatwave which continued into July when the mercury struck almost 32C.

It would become the hottest month ever recorded until it was beaten in 2006 and the heatwave is remembered, not for its extreme peaks but the relentless heat every day.

When the extreme temperature first hit Courier Country people reportedly went “daft” at the sight of the sun which had previously been conspicuous by its absence.

The theory was that they took too much too quickly during a June weekend and didn’t seem to realise that “British sun can burn just as much as Spanish”.

A besieged casualty department at Dundee Royal Infirmary the following Monday treated 42 people suffering from sunstroke and severe sunburn.

A few were so badly burned they had to be detained overnight.

One experienced casualty worker declared: “I have never known anything like it”.

Hard-pressed nurses and doctors were said to have laboured all day treating blisters on old and young alike.

Most cases were blamed on the legacy of a heatwave weekend when the temperatures in the city soared.

Those who managed to sleep through the pain woke during the third day of the heatwave and decided they required hospital treatment from the specialists.

Despite the sunny outlook, this week’s temperatures are still not expected to top the 32.2C clocked at Ochtertyre.

Firefighters tackle the wildfire on Saddleworth Moor which continues to spread, and above right, the public get face masks in Calico Crescent, Stalybridge, near the blaze on the moor.

The paddling pool at Castle Green, Broughty Ferry, on July 12 1983.