For a country not built for the heat, this rare amount of sunshine and warmth was bittersweet. Many hoped to enjoy the weather on beaches and in parks with a BBQ and a few drinks, but it created dangerous conditions for many people and animals, melted runways, and disrupted trains. In East London, 40 homes and shops were burnt to the ground after a compost heap spontaneously combusted. Thankfully no one was killed.

The heat has broken in the country now and things have generally returned to normal. But the UK will likely see similar temperatures before long and will do so for years to come as the effects of climate change continue to impact countries across the world.

With this in mind, we decided to take a look at how Brits talked about the heatwave, and what they turned to get them through it. With the world facing increasing temperatures, the UK’s response offers insight into how people in countries that aren’t used to high temperatures will cope.

Back in my day

As the expectations for record temperatures grew, warnings were put out telling people how to prepare and how to protect themselves in the extreme heat. With the looming heatwave receiving a lot of press and media focus, some of the UK’s older generations took this as scaremongering.

Many referred to the summer of 1976 which saw high temperatures and severe drought between June and August.

With a contradictory mixture of nostalgic reverence and tales of how tough ‘76 was, they argued that there was nothing to worry about. They, and the country, had been through worse, with plenty of references to today’s ‘snowflake’ generations just needing to get over it.

In their defence, the summer of 1976 was more extreme in some ways, including duration and drought. On the other hand, the highest temperature recorded back then was ‘just’ 35.9°C / 96.6°F. Meanwhile, the increasing frequency of these hot temperatures wasn’t such a major concern in the 70s.

Arguments and debates raged across Twitter as both sides made their case.

This led to a dramatic increase in Google searches about the ‘76 heatwave, a topic that was barely searched for before.

As we all know too well, the culture wars come for everything. The weather, it seems, is no exception. And who knows? In 30 years time, it may be Millennials talking up the 2022 heatwave in a similar way.

Coffee, curries, and cider

While the above discussions continued, the predicted heatwave descended on the UK, peaking on 18 and 19 July. People were seeking out ways to reduce their temperature, so we wondered if this changed the conversation volumes around certain foods and drinks.

Using Consumer Research, we set up queries to track a range of items, including some classic British ones, to see if there was any change. We compared levels on 18 and 19 July, the third Monday and Tuesday of the month, to the same Monday and Tuesdays of 2018, 2019, and 2021 (2020 was excluded due to effects of the Covid-19 pandemic).

Here’s how the data looks.

In an unexpected upset, iced coffee saw a more marked increase in conversation than ice cream. Maybe this reflects that it was a working day for many and people still needed their caffeine hit. Hopefully that helped coffee shops offset the 14% drop for normal coffees.

Hot drinks weren’t completely out though. Tea mentions were up 15% because for the Brits, whether it’s victory or tragedy, the answer is always tea. Even curry, another British favorite, saw a 5% increase, because who doesn’t want a vindaloo in a heatwave?

On the other hand, fish and chips and pies both saw mentions decrease. For the former this is a surprise. It’s a classic seaside treat and with the hot weather drawing people to the beaches, you might have expected a boon for the coast’s chip shops. Instead ice creams were far more favored.

On the alcohol front, beer and cider both saw strong increases, with the latter up ahead. While lager is certainly the drink of choice in the UK, the heatwave had people thirsting after the more fruity option. We assume the refreshing combo of cider and ice may have helped it pip beer to the post.

There’s a new refreshment option on the block though. Using Benchmark we looked at the top performing Facebook posts from the country’s top brands to see what people were engaging with.

The most popular post was from Marmite, a yeast-based spread that divides opinions amongst the UK’s inhabitants. Marmite’s interesting suggestion was Marmite ice lollies.

Will they catch on this summer? We aren’t holding our breath.

What should we cover next?

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Stay safe,

The Brandwatch Bulletin team