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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think there must be something wrong with me because I absolutely can not tolerate the UK heatwaves - anyone else?

338 replies

Saywhatnowhey · 22/05/2026 09:47

I am 53 and in perimenopause so that is not helping at all but I have always been like this.

As soon as summer hits and these heatwaves come out of nowhere I feel dreadful. I have never been able to tolerate either cold or hot weather at all, even when I was younger. As a child I preferred winter over summer so I could cover and layer up.

Where I live in the UK it is often the most hot and humid weather during the summer months and it makes me feel so physically unwell. I have some existing health issues but none that are related to temperature intolerance so no idea why I get like this. It's only 9.30am and I have already had to sit down with my neck fan on. Just hanging out a few loads of washing and tidying up the kitchen has left my heart racing, my stomach churning (I do have IBS which gets worse in the summer) and I feel so nauseous (I always feel so sick in the heat). Other than pace and fan myself there doesn't seem to be a lot I can do to dampen down the ill feeling I get.

No one else I know is like this, everyone adores this heat and really looks forward to it, some saying the hotter the better but I just want to lay on my bed and lay with the fan on all day, I feel so lightheaded and weird.

I have mentioned this numerous times to my GP but my blood levels return ok so they don't have any suggestions.

Is it normal to feel so unwell during the summer months? Does anyone else get this?

I freeze during the winter, like to the bone frozen but I would rather take that over the summer because at least I can carry my trusty hot water bottle around with me and layer up. The sticky, humid UK summers make me want to rip my skin off. It really annoys me because I love warmth and sunshine - I could happily reside in September and October for the rest of my days, I am at my most comfortable in Autumn.

OP posts:
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CassandraWebb · 24/05/2026 08:36

Saywhatnowhey · 24/05/2026 08:32

But I can’t go carrying an air conditioning unit around with me, nor can I sit all day in one room so it simply isn’t an affordable option for me. I certainly don’t have the funds for air conditioning units in every room or at my parents house where I care for my mum. I get by within my budget and for me that means hand held fans, drinking as much water as I can and wearing cool clothes. I just can’t afford air con, sadly it is that simple.

Show quote history

Can you stretch to £26 ? I got one a bit like this and it does give some respite at least
https://amzn.eu/d/0g7GkCjH

It is relentless if you have to do things in this heat though and you have my sympathy

Portable Air Conditioner, Air Cooler with 300ml Water Tank, 3-in-1 Free Standing Cooling AC Unit with Fan & Dehumidifier, 3 Speed 7 Color Lights Oscillating Cooling Fan for Desk, Home, Bedroom, Office : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen

Shop Portable Air Conditioner, Air Cooler with 300ml Water Tank, 3-in-1 Free Standing Cooling AC Unit with Fan & Dehumidifier, 3 Speed 7 Color Lights Oscillating Cooling Fan for Desk, Home, Bedroom, Office. Free delivery on eligible orders of £20 or mo...

https://amzn.eu/d/0g7GkCjH?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-am-i-being-unreasonable-5533019-to-think-there-must-be-something-wrong-with-me-because-i-absolutely-can-not-tolerate-the-uk-heatwaves-anyone-else

Tshirtking · 24/05/2026 08:34

Livpool · 22/05/2026 10:14

This is first day of the year I haven’t had to put my heating on first thing. How can people be moaning about the warm weather already?!

It has been grey, damp and miserable since September. This is the first day I haven’t had to take my reliever inhaler before taking my son to school.

Because the heat makes me so unwell I carnt carry out normal daily tasks.

Original poster
Saywhatnowhey · 24/05/2026 08:32

AmethystDeceiver · 23/05/2026 19:50

But you get so so ill in temps above 20 (so it seems), which means that an AC until is a medical necessity and you just need to find a way to buy one. Even if it's a few years of saving up. There is no other option for you OP, I'm not saying this to be mean, but you don't really have any other choices

Show quote history

But I can’t go carrying an air conditioning unit around with me, nor can I sit all day in one room so it simply isn’t an affordable option for me. I certainly don’t have the funds for air conditioning units in every room or at my parents house where I care for my mum. I get by within my budget and for me that means hand held fans, drinking as much water as I can and wearing cool clothes. I just can’t afford air con, sadly it is that simple.

OP posts:
RampantIvy · 24/05/2026 08:30

I am very short sighted and prefer brighter weather as I don't see well in dim light. It just goes to show that there are a lot of genuine physical reasons for preferring different weather types.

Original poster
Saywhatnowhey · 24/05/2026 08:28

Clarabell77 · 23/05/2026 18:57

I’m with you, I feel suffocated and attacked by the brightness.

Yes, the brightness is a thing for me too, I find it overwhelming and over stimulating, I feel much calmer and at ease come evening (maybe I’m a vampire lol).

OP posts:
Original poster
Saywhatnowhey · 24/05/2026 08:26

Arran2024 · 23/05/2026 15:28

I do indeed wear sunglasses. But that only affects my eyes. I hate the feeling of the sun on my body. I am on the autistic spectrum and have a lot of sensory issues and this is one of them. I am perfectly happy in the shade on a hot day but I cannot cope with the sun on my body.

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I’m the same with the feeling of the sun on my skin, I can’t quite describe enough for people to fully understand but it almost makes me panic, I really don’t like the sensation at all. I have adhd and often wonder if I have asd too. I have a lot of sensory issues.

OP posts:
RhosynCymru · 24/05/2026 07:06

Completely sympathise. Been heat intolerant all my life to the point at nine years old my worried parents took me for a blood test as I kept passing out one summer. The doctor confirmed that although a very healthy child , hot weather was always going to be problematic for me but there has always been a puzzle as to the exact cause.

SqueakyFromme · 23/05/2026 20:49

Saywhatnowhey · 23/05/2026 10:06

I live near the coast too, it's crazy today. My daughter started a summer job in a holiday park yesterday, she said it was boiling (she too dislikes this heat).

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I have to say we want to the beach today and it was beautiful, even went for a swim, but that’s the only time I managed to cool down, that’s an understatement the sea was cold 🥶 did the trick though. It says it was 13.2 to 14.7 so not freezing !
Hope your daughter is okay, holiday parks are hard work

Tootsey11 · 23/05/2026 20:01

Could you have Pots or Mcas?

Arran2024 · 23/05/2026 19:58

Our previous house had a big loft extension and it was boiling hot up there in the summer. The previous owners left us an air conditioning unit but it was so noisy and made the air so dry, we didn't use it.

AmethystDeceiver · 23/05/2026 19:50

Saywhatnowhey · 23/05/2026 09:51

Maybe some of us can't afford an air-con unit (I am on carers allowance) and maybe some of us moan because we genuinely feel quite unwell in this horrid humid heat.

Show quote history

But you get so so ill in temps above 20 (so it seems), which means that an AC until is a medical necessity and you just need to find a way to buy one. Even if it's a few years of saving up. There is no other option for you OP, I'm not saying this to be mean, but you don't really have any other choices

SusanChurchouse · 23/05/2026 19:21

I live in central Scotland and I’m still wearing a hoodie today. It very rarely gets hot enough for me to even consider shorts. I think I run cold but I often look at what people are wearing and wonder how they aren’t freezing. It’s very rare for me to get away with a single layer. I have Raynauds and mild arthritis so winter is more problematic for me.

JenniferBooth · 23/05/2026 19:11

Its shit @Saywhatnowhey Top floor one bedroom flat

  1. Bath not shower.
  2. Health and safety regs like no gaps under doors and window restrictors have turned these places into even hotter sweatboxes.
  3. The fridge freezer cant take it and stops working.
  4. It affects my bowel issues.
  5. the kitchen is very small so nowhere for heat to go when you do cook see 2 and 3
WiddlinDiddlin · 23/05/2026 19:06

Bloody love my aircon, used it last night so we could get some sleep!

Clarabell77 · 23/05/2026 18:57

I’m with you, I feel suffocated and attacked by the brightness.

JenniferBooth · 23/05/2026 18:55

The French Can we have air conditioning
Of course you can.
The Spanish Can we have air conditioning
Of course you can.
The Italians Can we have air conditioning
Of course you can.

The Brits. Can we have air conditioning
No you bloody cant Dont you know it makes climate change worse!

Alittlefrustrated · 23/05/2026 15:38

You are not alone OP - it's always made me very lethargic and slow of brain. Now I have Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia, which seems to cause horrendous sweating from the head. It runs down the sides of my face and neck. Yet the rest of my body is fine. Blow drying my hair in the winter is bad - horrendous in summer.
On the plus side, I love the light and blue skies.

Arran2024 · 23/05/2026 15:28

RampantIvy · 22/05/2026 23:16

actually it's more the intense sunshine I dislike

Do you not wear sunglasses?

I do indeed wear sunglasses. But that only affects my eyes. I hate the feeling of the sun on my body. I am on the autistic spectrum and have a lot of sensory issues and this is one of them. I am perfectly happy in the shade on a hot day but I cannot cope with the sun on my body.

InterIgnis · 23/05/2026 14:31

Diosmonet · 23/05/2026 12:21

I am British, living in Athens, and hands down, a heatwave here is easier to handle here than the UK.

A lot of it is do do with what you said about the homes. Here we have split unit AC's in every room, stone floors, pools and the sea etc. The last time we were in the UK during a heatwave, we came back to Greece earlier as none of us could sleep!

The UK just isn't equipped for these temperatures. Much like our marble floors and large windows - everywhere - don't lend themselves to a great deal of warmth and cosiness in winter.

Show quote history

My experience is similar.

I’m from the Balkans, and used to live in the UK. I like heat, and I don’t struggle at all in countries with consistently higher temperatures. The only country I’ve found a heatwave to be in unpleasant in, is the UK. Because of the humidity, and the propensity for buildings and infrastructure to trap heat, it always felt hotter than it actually was.

Oh, and I’m also at the lower end of the healthy weight spectrum, so finding British heat to be a strange/unpleasant one is not unique to the overweight.

Installing air conditioning in the house made a huge difference. OP- even if you can’t install a HVAC, you may find a smaller portable AC unit to be more affordable for you?

Diosmonet · 23/05/2026 12:21

TwoBagsOfCompost · 22/05/2026 11:16

I’m Greek and I would take a Greek heatwave over a UK one. I don’t quite know what it is about UK hot weather but it’s absolutely unbearably hot for me 😭 One obvious thing is dwellings are built to retain heat, carpet everywhere, and no air conditioning, those are killer. But also even outside, in the garden, on the patio, just walking around, it’s too bloody boiling hot 🥵

I am British, living in Athens, and hands down, a heatwave here is easier to handle here than the UK.

A lot of it is do do with what you said about the homes. Here we have split unit AC's in every room, stone floors, pools and the sea etc. The last time we were in the UK during a heatwave, we came back to Greece earlier as none of us could sleep!

The UK just isn't equipped for these temperatures. Much like our marble floors and large windows - everywhere - don't lend themselves to a great deal of warmth and cosiness in winter.

EmeraldRoulette · 23/05/2026 11:14

Just to add heat is so strangely different in this country. But the only work I've done in other countries has been the US, which is obviously very well set up for aircon

a 30° day is lovely over there. Here it's only nice if you haven't got to work. Again it all depends how we are made.

The strong sunlight in particular is giving me a boost but I do really feel for everyone who's having issues.

EmeraldRoulette · 23/05/2026 11:11

HoraceCope · 23/05/2026 11:05

anyway aren't air conditioning units contributing to climate change?

I'm not going to get into that specifically

But if you google you will see that lack of air-conditioning contributes to excess deaths

Indoor temperatures from 25 to 28 our problem. I would've thought 25 was okay, but I'm a feeling cold person.

I had a good sleep last night and woke up in a very good mood, but I always sleep better in the heat. Only woke up to add an extra layer.

So as someone who is always cold, even I'm saying that lack of Aircon contributes to health problems

Here is one report
https://britishprogress.org/reports/air-conditioning-saving-lives-and-accelerating-net-zero

@Saywhatnowhey can you sleep downstairs at all?

Air conditioning: saving lives and accelerating net-zero

Air conditioning: saving lives and accelerating net-zero

Air conditioning can save lives, boost productivity and help the UK achieve net zero. Currently, government regulation all but bans it.

https://britishprogress.org/reports/air-conditioning-saving-lives-and-accelerating-net-zero

sakura06 · 23/05/2026 11:10

I hate it too. If it gets over 28° I basically don’t want to do anything. I have been to hotter, more humid places abroad but they are set up well with air con! I’m a teacher so have to tolerate the classroom being 30°+. It’s horrible for the pupils as well. Praying the heat wave ends before we go back after half term!

HoraceCope · 23/05/2026 11:05

anyway aren't air conditioning units contributing to climate change?

Watercooler · 23/05/2026 11:03

I do sometimes think I wonder how much it would cost to rent out a church for summer. I bet it's cool in a church.

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