The John Griff Column: Whether the weather…

How far has your daily life been affected by the heatwave season of 2026? Have you found yourself doing things that you wouldn’t have done, say 10 years ago? Are you doing things differently now? And what of the future? 

As I sit writing, it is just before 6 am. The dogs have been fed, the birds are singing, the sun is up and Lois is trying to get some sleep in our spare room. She works in an office but like many, our sleep has been somewhat disturbed by the weather, so she tries to catch a few extra Z’s away from disturbances. I’m trying to type quietly – I’ll make tea in an hour or so. It's evidence of a new reality - early mornings are now de rigeur for us. 

Maybe you too recall the summer of 1976 – ‘The Long, Hot Summer’. A time of scorched lawns, businesses affected by the heat and standpipes delivering water as the nation’s water levels shrank from an unexpectedly high and prolonged spell of dry weather which then, as now, became a drought. 

Now, though, I look on 1976 as something isolated – a meteorological aberration. Yes, we have had spells of hot weather since – even record temperatures. But with what we have seen over the past few weeks, have we arrived at a new norm? This week, Health Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said that the NHS would be planning for crisis summers in the way that it plans for winters. While it’s good to see and hear, shouldn’t it have been doing so already? I dread to think what it must be like for NHS staff and those in need of its services. Warnings to stay away for everything except the most pressing emergencies because of internal incapacity and overcrowding seem to come earlier and earlier each year – well before winter. I hope that planning means investment made in advance of its need – not a patchwork of papered over cracks in an overly stressed system. 

Notwithstanding the dreadful fires that have been affecting so many both here and further afield in recent days, are we now in a time where climate change scientists can justifiably walk around saying “I told you so”? It certainly looks like it. The lessons of 1976 and the dire warnings about climate change have demonstrably come home to roost – and yet our infrastructural ability to cope seems badly compromised. The current hosepipe ban looks to be remaining for some time to come and yet, almost obscenely, burst water mains and other cracks in the system seem all too apparent. Will Mr Burnham’s Prime Ministership be remembered for rapid renationalisation of public utilities, much as that of steel? In 1976 I recall public transport being affected by overheated train tracks – the same has been happening this summer. We need to become better at coping. 

Perhaps that is the point – climate CHANGE. The summer temperatures and weather we are now experiencing look like achieving permanence, affecting young and old alike. Farming, transport, infrastructure, health services and more all need to plan accordingly and put in mitigation before it is needed, not as it arrives. The Met Office forecasts warmer, wetter winters, rather than colder, icy ones. If so (and they have the most powerful modelling computers anywhere), the water companies really must get their pipework universally up to standard - now. Yes, that will cost money - our money. Maybe Mr Burnham and his Chancellor can help on the VAT side.      

Our lives have already been changed by the effects of the weather. Early starts? Later finishes? Might we consider a midday siesta as they have in parts of mainland Europe? Why not - Lois might get better rest, as might the nation. If we accept that ours is now becoming more aligned to a hotter climate, perhaps our industries will change. More solar panels on home roofs, ground pumps and a greater acceptance of renewable energies might help too. 

Under the Roman occupation, wine making was introduced to the county because of its soil and Mediterranean style climate. How much of it was exported back to Rome via the River Nene seems open to debate, but if we had that kind of climate then, and have it again now, perhaps there are opportunities to be exploited.           

Climate, and change.