Hottest day record

WELL, has it been as hot as 1976? Three things are embedded in my mind for June of that year; the sea in the English Channel was actually warm enough to swim in, the crayons in some terrapin school classrooms melted and, as a result of a long overdue pay rise for teachers (thanks to Harold Wilson!), backdated to 1975, we took our family for their first summer holiday to Malta, where it was even hotter! The mean maximum of 24C was similar in both 1976 and 2025 but the main difference is that overnight temperatures have been much higher.

The last day of the month was certainly the hottest I have ever known. Three of my thermometers recorded 33C.

Comparisons are similar in that 24mm of rain fell in both 1976 and 2025. What we need now is some gentle rain. My thanks to Denis Gilbert, from Shiplake, for the statistics.