To be fed up of hearing 'just get on with it'?

The same way they fare in the winter.

Tbf we have no more than 10 days a year like this.

Tbf we have no more than 10 days a year like this now.

In order to make sure our economy continues to function, we have to make sure we don't lose more and more productivity to climate events.

And let me guess you’re one of those posters who think taxing billionaires will give us everything we want for free?

Energy is not problematic.

Fossil fuel energy is problematic.

As the nation gets hotter we will need more AC to be climate resilient. (We may need less heating.)

We need to power it with sustainable energy.

Tbf we have no more than 10 days a year like this. The same in winter with the snow. It’s really is a waste of money to put infrastructure in place for every eventuality. If the government was to turn round now and suggest we had air con installed in all buildings etc I’d be really pissed off. We have a struggling nhs and just last week the defence secretary quit because we want spend money to protect the country in a time the world is in a very hostile state

Well you’re not wrong but on a day-to-day basis we do need to get on with life. I’ve had a classroom of teenagers refusing to pick pens up because it was too hot. It was 24 degrees! We do need to get on with it.

the intensity of the heat we are experiencing now is worse, the frequency of the heat events is worse and the global situation is worse than 1976.

This is indeed true and extremely worrying - which is why we ought to focus resources on improving energy efficiency and generating renewable energy…… rather than rush out and install AC everywhere and consume yet more energy.

The UK is sinking because it is broke. Actually worse than that, it is in huge amounts of debt and with interest rates much higher than they ever were before.
We have problems coming out of our ears. We don't have enough defence, we don't have enough police, our schools are not working terribly well, our A&E is embarrassing. Our welfare bill is embarrassing. We have homelessness and we have continued immigration despite the above.

We are broke and needing to fix all of the above. Pretty sure in the event the UK can turn things around and grow the economy/pay down the debt, the above will be a higher priority than giving everyone a free airconditioner.

I mean seriously order one tonight from argos, pick it up first thing tomorrow, plug it in and spend tomorrow cool and relaxed. Really don't think we need 'collective action' to do that.

Sadly I am unable to offer any such quick fixes to the rest of the UK's problems.

So by all means improve your life but do it yourself and stop expecting 'the govt' or 'society' to do it for you.

It's getting hotter. And will continue to get hotter. AC will keep your bedroom cool. What about everywhere else? Like... the outside?

Because that’s fantasy thinking. You haven’t yet answered; who funds the billions of pounds of change you want to see?

That poster was correct. We can stamp our feet and mobilise all we like but the country cannot afford the transformation you think we should demand. You can however make changes to your own life and property - I’ve just replaced our plastic grass with real, am replacing our car with one with air con, and am looking at air con units for the house (just a small one we can use in the room the kids sleep in).

Of course you should just get on with it. We live in the easiest and most convenient of times. How easy do you want your life to be. A little resilience goes a long way. A little discomfort is actually very healthy.

I agree that on average it is getting hotter.
We also have portable air conditioners that are relatively cheap which we did not have in the seventies. Problem solved.

@MasterBeth
I don't think you can compare them.

It can be true that the drought and heatwave of 1976 were more severe as a single period of time, while also being true that changing weather patterns are creating bigger long-term problems

Four or five really hot days are not the same as several weeks of sustained heat combined with a severe drought. In 1976, water use was restricted in parts of the country and some areas had major supply issues. Either one of those on their would have been challenging, but together... Lets ask the people of Kent about water shortages!

If we are comparing specific heatwaves, then 1976 remains the benchmark against which everything else is measured. If we are discussing broader weather patterns and long-term climate risks, then that is a whole different conversation altogether.

I'm pretty sure portable air conditioners work just as well in flats as houses. Hose out of window. Shut curtains and off you go.
Poor delivery man might have to lug it up a few flights of stairs if you don't have a lift but otherwise it's exactly the same.

It was neither the Mail nor the Telegraph.

As you are copy/pasting an AI generated post scraping hugely biased and unreliable content sources i.e. the Mail and the Telegraph, I suggest you don't really know what you are talking about.

whilst I agree that the UK needs badly overdue improvements to infrastructure, I don’t think that installing AC for occasional brief heat waves ought to be a priority. Better railways, improved roads/road systems, better (public) transport in general, cleaner water, cleaner air, electric cars, renewable energy sources are way more important.