Scottish Heatwaves: Here are 15 fascinating pictures from the 1960s and 1970s of Edinburgh and Scotland experiencing heatwaves

As record-breaking temperatures are set to leave the UK sweltering, we look back at some of the heatwaves of the past.

Scotland’s summers are getting progressively hotter due to global warming (although it may sometimes feel like they’re not getting any drier) – with Glasgow in particular having its warmest summer ever just last year (2021).

However heatwaves are nothing new for Scots, with many having particularly evocative memories of 1976, when a spell of dry and warm weather spanned the end of June and the majority of July and August.

We’ve had a look back in the archives to find a few pictures from that year, and some of the other times temperatures rocketed north of the border,

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13. Cooling off

Youngsters Gordon Macpherson and Neill MacPherson eating ice cream at an ice cream van in Princes Street, Edinburgh, during a heatwave in August 1961. Photo: Unknown