Historic 1976 heatwave could look cool compared to what's coming in 30 years

So remember the summer of 1976 and remember this, when Kiki D and Elton John were taking over the charts and many people will have this wonderful memory of a hot dry summer.Today marks 50 years since the start of the infamous heatwave of 1976 when temperatures soared and many people won't remember it but ask your parents or grandparents but Ed I'm going to ask you because you remember that summer.

I was, I was nine years old, we went to school, it was baking hot every day.We all had water bands, we couldn't water the garden or anything like that.All the grass was brown.I remember going to the test matches and the cricket grounds were all brown, it was so hot.And we had a thing in our garden, we had a bath so there were no showers back then.And when we pulled the plug out of the bath upstairs, the water came down the pipe and my dad rigged a gutter so that it then went down onto the garden to water the garden and we had a little duck each, me, my brother, my sister, and we would put our ducks and they would flow down with the water and we would see who would be the fastest.

So funny, and I think that people have these fond memories, people flocking to the beaches and to the Lido's.But there was the other side of it, the droughts, the year -long drought, the water shortages.People didn't have running water in their homes.They had the standpipes in the street, and that's where they collected their water from, and many fatalities.I just want to point out people saying it was hot then, it was hot then, it is even hotter now.So actually we have some new research from the Met Office that is talking us through what happened that summer and what is happening now.

It is worth pointing out it is still a record -breaking summer, 1976, it holds the temperature record for the hottest June day we have ever recorded.But we are going to break that today.The heat wave never exceeded 36 degrees Celsius.Today, we will be breaking that temperature record.Our climate is much hotter now than it was in 1976.In fact, that was the sixth hottest summer we've ever recorded.

Last year was the hottest summer we've ever recorded.And the Met Office have looked ahead 30 years.If we had the exact same heat wave in the climatewe're projecting in 30 years' time, these would be the temperatures, widely 40 or 41 degrees.45 degrees would be the top temperature.So while climate is warming, I think many people are surprised to hear that the temperatures we're experiencing now are hotter than then.

If you imagine these temperatures, imagine the water shortages, the droughts, and the wildfires the future could be.

Well, and also just sort of the mental capability to make good decisions in heat.I even found it yesterday.It was sort of slowing my thinking down.I didn't want to cook.Do you know what I mean?It has sort of a weird impact on how you think.

Over 28 degrees Celsius is the temperature with the high humidity that means everything slows down.It's the oxygen that pumps through your body to your brain and everything is slower.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.Gosh, that colour is really vivid in not a good way on the map.

Terrifying, but this doesn't have to be the future reality.

Jonathan Swain is at a care home in Swansea.Jonathan, like so many families, residents of care homes across the country, the residents there will be wondering, how are we going to cope with the heat today?

Well, we're all struggling in this extreme heat, aren't we?Certainly you won't be out in the garden for the residents today because...It's going to be very, very hot here in South Wales.And of course, there's no really escaping a bit when you're in the building itself, because there's no air conditioning in the care home, like many buildings around the UK.And to make matters even worse, because of health and safety restrictions, you can't fully open the window.The temperature is already 33 degrees in the corridor outside.

It's obviously a lot hotter for the residents in their rooms higher up in the building.Well, of course, there has been a rare red extreme heat warning for Wales.That's from tomorrow morning.across much of England as well and southeast parts of Wales.And the UK Health Security Agency are also warning that there could be a risk to life because of this extreme heat that we are all experiencing these days.week.

Let's bring in Ollie now from the care home here.Ollie, we're talking about all the warnings in place.How does that translate to you here as the manager of the care home?

We're told to take as many practical steps as possible.to monitor the vulnerable, to make sure that there's no ill effects from the hot weather, to increase fluid as much as reasonably possible and to cope really with reducing temperatures.with the limited availability.

Charlie, you look after the residents, they're all getting up right now.How are they coping?

Some of them are really struggling in the heat and they are staying up in their rooms instead of coming down and doing their usual activities.But we are trying to encourage them to come down into the communal areas where it is a bit cooler, making sure they're drinking enough fluids, ice lollies, ice creams and keeping them out of the sun.

Good old ice lolly, keeping things ticking over during this extreme heat.Well, of course, there is some disruption to travel this week as well.Potentially disruption to the rail network tomorrow.You're being advised only to travel on the trains if it's absolutely essential tomorrow and also on Thursday.And the AA are also warning the roads may well be gritted.Here's the AA.

Have a listen.

With the heat, the roads can soften, the gritting helps cool the roads down and stops the road from going uneven and rutting.A driver shouldn't be worried about the roads melting.The roads can soften, that can affect the braking and steering, but that can also affect obviously cyclists and motorbikes.

So temperatures then potentially could be peaking, as Laura is saying, up to 40 degrees over the next couple of days in some parts of the UK.They've got great staff here, like Charlie and Ollie, who we've just spoken to, looking after the 60 or so residents in this particular care home.But we're all being advised, aren't we, to keep an eye out for the elderly and for the vulnerable over the next few days.

All right.Thank you so much.Well, some schools across England and Wales have planned to close early today ahead of the heat wave.Some have adjourned.Nick Dixon is at a primary school in Luton that is choosing to remain open today.Are they going to stay open for the rest of the week, Nick?

And if so, how are they going to keep the kids safe and cool?

Hi Ranbir, they are staying open.They hope to stay open but they just have to manage the high temperatures as best as they can.At break times at this area of the school for the reception kids they're going to stay under the canopy and just stay a little bit cooler.You can see the kids are in for breakfast club.They don't have their uniform on which will help.a little bit and inside the school as well.

They're going to unplug or they already have unplugged a lot of the machinery, the TVs, the computers, anything that generates heat to try and regulate the temperature as much as possible over the next few days.So you can see from these pictures inside the school yesterday, a lot of the kids have been learning how to put sunscreen on.So they're doing that every two or three hours as well and helping each other to keep safe.On top of that, they've got water stations littered around the school that the kids are jumping in and out which makes it fun for them as well and some canopies as well so the kids when they do come outside if they go out into the sun at least they've got some shade to enjoy as well because this heatwave does have to be taken seriously there are health concerns here.

Make sure you're drinking water regularly throughout the day.Make sure that you're wearing the appropriate sunscreen.Over the course of the next few days, we'll expect a significant number of people to suffer from the relatively minor illness of heat exhaustion.These people will feel headache, nausea, lightheadedness, and by moving into the shade, rehydrating yourself, you'd expect that to resolve within 30 minutes.

Well, I've got some of the school staff with me now, Noshan and Natalie.You can already feel the bright sunshine here.You've got a job on your hands over the next few days, haven't you?

Absolutely.We believe school's exactly where children should be, especially our most needy and most vulnerable.We've made some changes to our timetable.We've got some flexic seating.we've relaxed our uniform policy.

We had the hoses out yesterday which the children absolutely loved and then at lunchtime they're in the shade reading, playing board games, so they're well set up aren't they?

Good, well best of luck over the next few days.Some schools as we talked about earlier are going to close until next week because they just don't have the ventilation, no kind of air conditioning and they just won't take any chances with the kids health.