19-year-old model Cerica, tanning herself in the dried-up basin of Pitsford Reservoir in Northamptonshire (PA) Credit: PA Wire/PA Images
The current heatwave is believed to be the longest since 1976 when there were 15 consecutive days of temperatures reaching 32C or higher and many months without rainfall.
1976 was marked by standpipes in the streets, water rationing and the appointment of a Minster for Drought.
Here’s what Britain looked like back in that summer:
Denis Howell was appointed Drought Minister to help manage the water crisis. Credit: PAResidents across the country had to fill buckets from water standpipes in the street. Credit: PAA model was photographed tanning herself in the dried-up basin of Pitsford Reservoir, Northamptonshire. Credit: PADrought-hit farmland at Broad Oak in Kent during August 1976. Credit: PAThe average maximum daily temperature in June 1976 was 19.9C. Credit: PAThe River Thames at Teddington after Thames Water Authority back-pumped water at Molesey Weir. Credit: PAHousehold supplies in Newport, Wales, were cut for 12 hours a day in a bid to preserve the desperately low stocks. Credit: PA
