With baking hot weather but the warning of thunderstorms on the horizon, those with long memories in Bradford could be forgiven for getting out the sandbags.

Because it is 41 years to the day, pretty much, that identical weather conditions to the ones we have now, led to Bradford city centre becoming besieged by water.

The rainfall, when it came, followed an incredibly humid spell, and though the storm lasted but quarter of an hour, the damage was well and truly done.

July 2, 1968, had begun hot and humid. By mid-morning the clouds had started to gather, and at 10am the streetlights buzzed on, it was so dark.

The storm had almost Biblical proportions, beginning with hailstones the size of bullets, followed by sheets of rain.

Within minutes, the drains had backed up and there was nowhere for the water to go. Streets and roads were instantly flooded. Motorists were trapped in cars as the water rose around them and water cascaded into cellars and subways.

There were rumours of people trapped underground, and the police sent diver PC Ronnie Hayward into the subway, but fortunately the reports were unfounded.

More than 600 emergency calls were made to the fire brigade and 2,000 telephone lines were put out of order.

Miraculously, no-one was killed or seriously injured.