THANKS to Joyce Clare of Martinstown for getting in touch with her memories of the long, hot summer of 1976.

Instead of enjoying the heatwave on these shores that summer, she and her husband spent a fortnight in Opatija, in the then-Yugoslavia.

"We had five days of solid rain," she said.

"It was our wedding anniversary and I remember I had an umbrella bought for me.

"Where we were staying was in a valley and and we experience d a lot of thunder which seemed to rumble around.

"Although it rained during our holiday we are both Arsenal supporters and we were lucky enough to meet the Arsenal football team who were staying in our hotel.

"I think we were there on August 9 1976. We had made friends with the assistant manager of Arsenal, Terry Neill, and when we came back we were offered a seat at Highbury in the directors' box."

Luckily when Joyce and her husband returned they still had plenty of days of sunny Dorset weather to enjoy in that summer of 1976, she said.