Tokyo’s heatwave may be a warning sign for the 2020 Olympics there, but things were rather different seventy years ago when London hosted the 1948 Games. They were the first since the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and an important symbol of international harmony. “May the weather be fine, the events well contested, and may records be broken,” said Prime Minister Clement Attlee in his opening speech on 28 July.
The weather appeared to be co-operating. After a cool, dull start, July had turned warm and dry. On the opening day, the sun shone in a cloudless sky and the temperature soared to over 30C. However, the fine spell did not last. Within a couple of days temperatures had dropped by almost ten degrees. Heavy rain set in, with up to 60mm falling over London in the next three days. Puddles can be seen on running tracks in some pictures, and accounts describe some events taking place during downpours.
Time magazine’s reporter called the weather “the worst in Olympic history” and claimed that the sun only shone on three days during the whole Games. However, the rain did not extinguish the Olympic spirit, and London’s austerity Olympics re-established the Games as a major international sporting event.
