THE countryside was as brown as the Mediterranean, the sun beat down every day, and people wondered what was happening to the climate.
This was the scene in the summer of 1921, when Southern England was in the grip of the most prolonged and intense heatwave since the 1700s. Kent was hit especially hard: Margate recorded a mere 236mm (9.29in) rainfall over the entire year, a record for the lowest yearly precipitation anywhere in the UK, and as dry as a desert (which is defined as an area with less than 10in of precipitation a year).
The extraordinary heatwave was created by a wedge of high pressure which had stretched up from the sub-tropical Azores region and remained stuck, blocking out most rainclouds.
It was the best season for most of Britain’s holiday resorts and August Bank holiday was reported the most prosperous.
“All the bathing stations were crowded and the seashore presented scenes of great animation,” the Margate Gazette reported.
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Even in October, crowds were flocking to the sea in temperatures hitting the high 20sC (80sF). No hotel rooms were available within a 50-mile radius of Blackpool and holidaymakers had to camp in tram shelters on the promenade.