Was 1976 really the

Figures show we are due a scorcher soon

THE week started off with such promise as Brits basked in the hottest day of the year on Tuesday.

But, just one day later, the heavens opened and heavy downpours and thunderstorms arrived to dampen the nation’s collective mood.

As the gutters filled, the inevitable claims of “summers were better when I was younger” resurfaced.

The dreich weather seemed a far cry from the sizzling heat enjoyed 40 years earlier – in the famous summer of 1976.

That year the UK enjoyed 15 consecutive days when the temperature reached 32C or 90F.

For many Brits that sizzling summer is proof that even the weather was better in the good old days.

However, Met Office statistics show that while 1976 still holds the top spot, each decade has a close contender.

In fact, the 80s, 90s and Noughties have had at least one summer that, like 1976, was a dry, hot scorcher.

Jim Dale, meteorologist and founder of British Weather Services, said the best of the top-notch summers were cyclical.

Better yet, he reckons we are due another one soon.

He said: “We are overdue another summer like 1976. We had one in 1995 and they are cyclical.

“You can’t predict it to an exact year but you would expect every double decade to see one of these extremes.”

And he said that while July and August remained the warmest months in Scotland, people might find May, June and even September had better weather these days.

He said: “It used to be July and August that you got the best weather but of late it’s more late August and September and an early spring month.

“However, it swaps and bobs about because our weather is unpredictable.”

It’s now 40 years since the sizzling summer of 1976 – a period baked into the memories of millions.

To see how other decades have fared, The Sunday Post analysed weather data from 1976 right up to 2015 to find the summer scorchers and the woeful washouts. As you might guess, 1976 is still Scotland’s best summer in that time.

However, 1995 is also a sizzling year and tops the sunshine league, while 2003 was the hottest. Other notable summers include 1983 and 2013.

Mark McCarthy, climate scientist at the Met Office, said a run of wet summers between 2007 and 2012 might have led people to believe the weather was better in May and June in Scotland.

And he said that when Scottish summers from the most recent decade (2006-2015) were compared with data from 1961 to 1990 it was clear there had indeed been some changes.

For example, temperatures increased by 0.7C while summers now see around four extra days of rain.

Interestingly, though, he said the amount of sunshine hadn’t really changed that much.