The longest heatwave

How did the recent heatwave compare with that of 1976? That year, the temperature peaked at 35.9˚C at Cheltenham on 3 July. This did not even break the UK temperature record at the time – 36.7˚C recorded in Northamptonshire on 9 August 1911. No recording from 1976 currently features on the list of Britain’s ten hottest recorded days. By contrast, in 2022 temperatures peaked at 40.3˚C in Coningsby, Lincolnshire.

– However, the 1976 heatwave was far more prolonged. Temperatures surpassed 90˚F (32.2˚C) somewhere in England on 15 consecutive days – a record which has never even nearly been surpassed. In 2022, temperatures exceeded 90˚F on just three consecutive days.

Contest contest

Britain will host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest as a substitute for Ukraine, which won this year. Which countries have hosted the event the most to date?

8 UK (London 1960, 1963, 1968, 1977; Edinburgh 1972; Brighton 1974, Harrogate 1982 and Birmingham 1998)

7 Ireland

6 Sweden

5 The Netherlands

4 Luxembourg

3 Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Norway.

Crisis management

How are Britons coping with the cost-of-living crisis?

89% say their living costs have risen over the past month.

45% of those who pay energy bills say it is ‘very difficult’ or ‘somewhat difficult’ to afford them.

21% say they are borrowing more than they did a year ago.

50% are buying less food.

14% have travelled abroad in the past few weeks.

Source: ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey

Whose leader?

How many people will choose the next PM? The Conservative party does not publish membership figures, but in 2018 the then chairman, Brandon Lewis, announced that the party had 124,000 members. This was down from an estimated 253,000 at the time of the 2005 leadership election, won by David Cameron. The results of the final round of the 2019 leadership election were 92,153 votes for Boris Johnson and 46,656 for Jeremy Hunt – giving 138,809 members, assuming all members voted (and voted only once).