When did the narrative around warm weather change?

Supergrass? In 1976?

Difficult to get to the substance of what you're actually trying to say.

Blimey you're like a terrier with a rat aren't you?

Climate change is extremely alarming but also you don't like that headlines are scary?

I didn't say I don't like the narrative that people should be careful in a heatwave.

I was saying that since the advent of 24 hour rolling news and news sites which get revenue through clicks on dramatic headlines, the headlines themselves appear to have got scarier. People don't click on headlines which say "enjoy the warm weather responsibly and use your common sense" do they?

(Edited to add a link)

And I knew I wasn't imagining things when I said I'd read somewhere that cold weather is more dangerous than hot weather. Found
https://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h2740

BBC article https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66890135

Previous heat waves have put pressure on the NHS, so it makes sense for the govt to encourage self-care eg don't get sunburned or dehydrated and clog up A&E.
Hot weather massively increases calls to 999.

You recognise people aren't sensible but you also don't like the narrative that they should be careful during a heatwave?

“No gloom or scare mongering? Don’t you remember the endless government warnings and the hose pipe ban and the extra 20% deaths?
were you even there if you can’t remember all this?”

@yakkity no, I really don’t. I was too busy drinking beer in the park every day after work, listening to Supergrass endlessly, and meeting friends at the beach at the weekend. Sad that all you can remember is hose pipe bans and death counts.

That people seem to have become encouraged to be afraid of hot weather. While climate change is extremely alarming especially given events like we saw in Texas last week, a few hot days (for most people) in the UK are not, if they are sensible. Why do schools still insist on children wearing hot polyester uniforms when it's 28 degrees? Why do some builders work all day with shirts off and never apply sunscreen? Why do people not think to have a cool shower when they feel hot? Why don't they cover up exposed skin when sitting on Centre Court for hours in direct sunlight? Why are hats and sunglasses not worn as a matter of course if people are spending any time outdoors? Why do men not apply sunscreen to bald heads? (A few very small examples)

I do feel that people are treated as idiots by the press because they act like idiots to a degree. For example, there are not many decent excuses for a child to be admitted to A&E with sunburn

Please don't think I was using my mother as a reason to dispute statistics! I was using her as a person I could ask who has a good memory of those times, who is reasonably well educated and well informed and interested in weather. As I said, I'm not arguing with you about the dangers of climate change. I think the UK has its collective head in the sand about it, particularly if we think people overseas should stay where they are rather than trying to head somewhere cooler. I looked on a heat map last week and found somewhere in Iraq where it was 47 degrees. If people think people can continue to live places like that they are deluded, no matter how much we want the government to police our borders.

Anyway I'm fully aware that I'm rambling now so I'll stop.

I'm not suggesting your mother was a fool, but you said she doesn't remember scores of people dropping dead on a daily basis - but I'm not sure why anyone would think she would?
She didn't work anywhere where the elderly people who tend to be excess deaths would be dying.
She wasn't scouring the papers in the subsequent months/years looking for stats.

There will likely be a high number of excess deaths this summer too but no one is dropping dead around me
Unless I remember to look up the stats in a few months it's not something I will know and certainly not remember in a few decades time.

What narrative are you thinking of?

I'm not here to argue with you. I'm agreeing with the OP that the narrative has changed. My mother no fool, if that's what you're implying - she was a nurse. Granted she was on mat leave at the time.

I work in the marine sector and am acutely aware of the long lasting marine heatwave and the effect it is having on life in the oceans. I spend a lot of my working day explaining it to people, many of whom don't want to hear it

Yes that's startling.

Again, I'm not saying it didn't happen! Only a fool would say that. And I remember the figure of 10,000 extra deaths in France alone as a result of the 2003 heatwave in Europe.

OTOH, I have read that cold snaps kill a lot more vulnerable people.

We are certainly going to have to get better at dealing with hot weather. So many people act like total fools in the heat. I was looking at the Wimbledon crowds - people on Centre Court sitting in direct sunlight for hours and hours, with lots of skin exposed and no hat on. Some didn't even have sunglasses. People can help themselves to an extent.

Stats on excess deaths would have been likely published somewhat after the events, it takes time to collate that kind of information.
How old was your mum at the time? Is she likely to have looked out for articles on excess deaths in the papers?

No good point. She wasn't, but she certainly doesn't remember it being reported.

I'm not saying it didn't happen - I'm just agreeing that the narrative has changed.

It's quite stark (for the benefit of those baffled by numbers) when you consider:

That list goes back almost 180 years

The past 50 years account for 8 of the 15 entries (if I counted on my fingers correctly)

The past 25 years account for 4 of the top 7.

There's a pretty graph showing the trend back to 1650 on this page.

https://www.netweather.tv/weather-forecasts/news/13048-the-growing-impact-of-extremes---state-of-the-uk-climate-2024-report

Was your mum working in a hospital/care home at the time?

Health impact
The 1976 heatwave is understood to have been the cause of 20% "excess deaths" and there was a significant increase in hospital emergency admissions from 24 June to 8 July 1976 compared with the same period in 1975 or 1974.[11] This compares to 59% excess deaths for the 2003 heatwave.[12]

The "narrative " changed when it became increasingly common for us to experience many days of 30+ degree weather.

People need warnings as apparrently many British people have no idea how to be safe in hot weather and need to be told.

It is true we and other places kn Euorpe have always had some hot weather in summer bit you would have to be wilfully blind not to notice how things are changing. Three years ago London had three days where the temperature as over 40 degrees.

We go to the South of France regularly and it is common in June and July or it to be high 20s to low 30s a lot. Last week for two days it was 40 degrees - no amount of "being sensible and using a paddling pool" is going to make that fun. I have also noticed the heat gets "stuck" more. At the end of our holiday we were in seaside towe where it was 33 degrees in the day, not unusual for that area in early July. But at 10pm it was still 29 degrees - it simply wasn't cooling down at all during the night.

TL:DR yes it is normal to have hot days in summer, but what we are seeing is unusual and increasingly alarming.

Not exactly ground-breaking news is it?

The thing is, it is. Summers have always been hot but they're getting hotter and this is having huge impact for nature, agriculture and human life.

It used to be considered a lovely thing if we had a warm summer. Older people (me!) have happy memories of summer 76 and endless days playing outside in shorts during the holidays.

Melanoma is now the 5th most common cancer in the UK and increasing rapidly.
Those of us of a certain age who were playing outside in shorts during that summer holiday are now fueling the statistics.

It’s genuinely funny how furious some people get the second you question the climate narrative.
I’ve never denied the climate changes. I just don’t buy the apocalyptic messaging or the idea that wrecking our economy and handing more power to global institutions is the solution. But try saying that, and people lose the plot.
If the science is so settled, why does anyone questioning it send people into meltdown? The shouting, the name-calling it’s not coming from people like me. It’s coming from the ones who claim they’re saving the world, but can’t tolerate being disagreed with.

Due Loads of rain here in the next week. The children all start breaking up next week and week after so the miserable weather will start again soon.

Click bait news stories are what’s driven the madness over the weather all the time these days. It can’t just be a nice warm or hot it’s got to be a scorcher or such. Haven’t even had a good storm here for years I’m sure when we do it will be the storm of a century of some bull.

I think the narrative changed after 2003, especially as the impact was greater in central Europe and Canada (maybe some other places, thought to lead to tens of thousands of excess deaths).

I agree, some of the posts on here re the weather are beyond dramatic!

Now there's a shitload of hyperbole crammed into a single sentence.

Total compliance isn't being demanded. You can tell by the way that the proposed dates keep being pushed back because hardly anyone is complying.

Dissent isn't being shut down. You can tell by the way you, and your climate-change denying chums, are all over social media and even positions of power. It's true that we're not all simply agreeing with you but that's what happens when the massive bulk of science shows that your dissent is based on bollocks.

Who the fuck do you think is getting rich off of trying to tackle climate change? Are they making more or less money than the fossil fuel companies etc who have made incredible amounts of money with CO2-producing industry and would really like to continue doing so to the extent they're bankrolling a lot of the climate change denial?

It's cool and windy today on the south coast and rain forecast for this weekend.

Crisis averted.

We had lots of summers like this when my kids were at school, sunny June and July with the kids wilting by the time the holidays start then it starts raining the day they break up and rains on and off all summer till they go back in September, then we get a couple of sunny weeks just to annoy everyone.