On 26 June 1976, the United Kingdom endured one of its most intense heatwaves on record, with temperatures soaring to 91F (32.2C) in London, just shy of the capital's all-time high set in 1940. The Guardian reported that office workers stripped off and plunged into the fountains at Trafalgar Square, while more sedate businessmen retained their bowlers and brollies while bathing their tired feet.
Tube Train Stranded in Tunnel
Hundreds of commuters faced a harrowing ordeal when a Bakerloo line train became stranded in a tunnel for 90 minutes after a signal failure between Swiss Cottage and St John's Wood. Passengers, overcome by heat, smashed windows and stripped to the waist. The train eventually arrived at Baker Street after what should have been an eight-minute journey, but no one required hospital treatment. An inquiry was subsequently held.
Road Chaos and Record Temperatures
The AA and RAC reported a flood of calls from motorists whose cars had overheated. The M4 was blocked from Heston to Chiswick by a collection of broken-down vehicles, causing tailbacks of three miles in both directions. The temperature at the AA station near Gallows Corner, Romford, Essex, reached 101F, and it was 99.7F at Hatfield, Hertfordshire. However, the London Weather Centre noted that some readings were misleading, as they were likely recorded in direct sunlight. Four locations tied as the hottest spots in Britain: London, Heathrow Airport, Jersey, and Farnborough, Hampshire, all at 91F.
Impact on the North and Infrastructure
The North also suffered, with Leeds experiencing its hottest day of the year at 90F, prompting ambulance crews to respond to over 40 fainting cases. Thursday night was the warmest in London for 29 years, with a minimum temperature of 70F. The London Weather Centre forecast continued sunshine with an increasing risk of thunderstorms. Contingency plans were drawn up for Tower Bridge, as heat expansion threatened to damage the 82-year-old structure, which had been closed once before during a heatwave when the two sides expanded so much they could not be closed.
Firsthand Account from the Bakerloo Line
Gillian Linscott, a Guardian journalist trapped on the stranded train, described the scene: “Just typical of London Transport to get us trapped in a tunnel on the hottest day of the year.” She noted that fair play toward London Transport was one of the first casualties when several hundred people were packed together for 90 minutes in temperatures near 100F. A blond, sun-tanned giant, bare to the waist, shattered a window with his boots after a woman fainted. Linscott observed that the first window breaking shattered normality, turning a bad hot hour into a crisis.
