No sign of rain as comparisons with 1976 grow
BACK in the summer of 1976 when the rain ceased to fall, Labour’s Denis Howell was drafted in as Minister for Drought. Within days such were the downpours he was given the additional brief of dealing with flooding.
This very dry 2022 has been regularly compared with 1976 in recent weeks – though we have had more rain than fell back then.
With hosepipe bans starting to be introduced this week, as back in 1976, perhaps there could just be a case for a minister to be summoned back from their holiday to perform a rain dance (but no floods, thank you).
Worst hit by lack of rainfall have been southern England and East Anglia, with hardly a drop in July.
There is little sign of anything changing in these parts this week. Today will see cloud and spells of sunshine across much of England and Wales, but it will be resolutely dry.
Temperatures are climbing again to reach 27C (81F) in southeastern England, 25C (77F) in South Wales and 23C (73F) in Norwich.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland, the rain-bearing weather fronts of the past week brought in by dominant low pressure will continue to arrive.
Elsewhere, the effect of the high pressure building in from the southwest of the UK will begin to make itself felt further north. In Belfast, the mercury will rise to 20C (68F).
And that high pressure will extend its influence throughout next week, seeing temperatures climb towards 30C (86F) in the warmest parts of east and south-east England. Some forecasts suggest a peak by Thursday of 36C (96.8F), though no records are likely to be broken.
In August, the power of the sun is diminished compared to mid-July. But there is still no sign of rain.