Isn’t memory a funny thing? As November brought gales and torrential rain, I said to colleagues: "We can’t complain after this summer". I was amazed when they replied almost in unison: "What summer? Did we have a summer this year?"

Did we have a summer? How could anyone forget the hottest July day ever? The hottest September since slavery was abolished? (Sorry!) People demanded dress down Fridays every day of the week as Britain sweltered and trains came to a halt as rails buckled in the heat.

Millions still vividly remember the summer of 1976. But it sounds as if the scorching summer of 2006 has already been forgotten.