AIBU to think heatwave barbecue reactions are starting to feel a bit Covid?

100%. People are already salivating at the idea of dobbing in their neighbours.

I think you’ve misunderstood, you can have a BBQ in your own back garden, it’s disposable BBQs that people take out into the countryside and discard carelessly that are banned.

I mean this feels like Covid though, people misinterpreting guidelines.

I'll be having a BBQ later just like I have all summer. It's on patio ,a gas one and right night to the hose pipe....oh,hang on 🤣

I got the warning and support the measures - as others have commented I think they should have been sooner. Can I just clarify something though, genuinely and not trying to start a fight or controversy. It’s disposable BBQs that are banned, and not all BBQs? That’s my understanding and in the emergency message I received. I ask as this thread is referring to BBQs being banned a lot, but my understanding is that they’re not. Thanks!

I was in northern Portugal on holiday nearly two months ago. The land was a lot less dry than ours is now, but they were experiencing high temps of 33 degrees plus. We got daily text alerts on our phones warning us about fire. I see nothing wrong with it, not like covid at all! Afaiac the benefits of having smart phones are highly questionable, this is one way the technology can actually be put to good use.

The government guidance says normal
household barbecues are allowed but should not be left unattended. Perfectly sensible advice.

My alert said we "should not undertake any activity that could start a fire, including disposable BBQs, fire pits, garden incinerator or fireworks. Even a small flame can rapidly develop into a wildfire"

That isnt disposable BBQs are banned. Its any small flame including disposable BBQs.

Not sure the issue here. We all got the same info. We all have seen Europe burning, homes and vehicles lost.. no one needs a BBQ.

I thought you meant it is like COVID in that people are policing each other's BBQs like they policed each other's hourly exercise in busy places (covidiots).

I wish I could think of a good social-control insult for bbqers. BBQueefers? Drought Dickheads? Hopefully a DM headline writer will come along in a minute to think one up.

I bet Boris is having a BBQ!

YABU and to be honest you border on sounding like one of those Americans harping on about their “freedom” to have a bbq. Just accept that sometimes you have to not do something for the greater good. It’s not hard.

Over 200,000 people died of covid in the UK. It was without a doubt a national emergency whether you want to minimise it or not.

As for the fires, I'm not 100% sure it needed a national alert but the general public aren't exactly known for their common sense so maybe it did. There's clearly been some unsafe situations due to the very dry conditions and if the alert stops even one fire it's probably worth it. It's my understanding that it was the fire service who asked for the alert.

It was a pretty contained fire, but yes, very destructive. Our main worry right now as a country though is massive water stress in many areas combined with the potential for wildfires - hence the message.

It's more akin to whole class punishments due to the behaviour of one or two naughty kids.
I mean anyone with half a brain cell knows it's silly to light fires in dry weather but no apparently no-one has any common sense anymore and we now need the government to spell out the bloody obvious. Wash your hands, don't light fires, I mean when did humans become so bloody stupid.

Is the countryside significantly more flammable than urban plants? I imagine not. The houses that all burned down in Stourbridge weren't in the countryside.

Trying saying that if your house has just been burnt down.

I don’t feel like losing everything in a wildfire and I live in a village with fields all around, so if its got authoritarian Covid vibes about it, I’ll suck it up.

I think its ridiculous that its taken this long to tell people not to have any kind of open fire/sparks in forest fire conditions. This is completely sensible and logical, nothing like some of the nonsensical covid restrictions the uk had. In my country we get these warnings every summer, people don't whinge about it, they follow them because they know how important they are. Yes its disappointing not to be able to have a bbq in my garden when its been to dry but that's a lot better than accidentally starting a wildfire that could cause a lot of damage and potentially deaths. If Brits need to be grassed on to begin with to understand the seriousness of this, then so be it. Eventually they'll get the message.

No. And it worries me more than patio bbqs. We had a fire start from a fag end in my city centre - not woodland or even a park, just a grass verge by the side of a busy road!

My DM's house is about 100 ft from miles of picturesque walking fields and woodland. It's kind of crazy to think that just one discarded fag butt from a single careless dog walker could send the whole lot up in these conditions.

Whatever any government says or does somone finds ways to object. This country is becoming ungovernable

(To answer OP) - Only in the sense that it has emboldened the idiots to get in a huff about 'being told what to do'.
I'm waiting for someone to link it to vaccines - this will happen 😂😂

BBQs aren’t banned. Who is anyone going to actually call? 😂 Unless there is a fire, then it’s the fire brigade.

That said, we run a BBQ company. That’s what we do. We make and sell BBQs. No way we’d be having a BBQ in these conditions and I wouldn’t recommend anyone else does either. The thing is that the average moron who is 4 beers in doesn’t actually have a lot of experience with cooking on open fire or fire safety. Can some people do it safely? Probably. Should the average person try? No. You can cook the same food indoors where you won’t light your grass on fire and burn down your neighbours house.

We were going to have a bbq today but cancelled… because it’s raining.

Yep. Posted something similar yesterday. It’s the tone of anyone who doesn't complete hate the heatwaves, or who wasn’t keen on the emergency alerts, apparently being an amoral moron who doesn’t care if people die. Just like Covid, you can take it seriously without losing your mind

You can have a BBQ, just don't use a disposable one.

Thank you for your polite opinion but our local services (police) want to be informed.
Leaving it till there is an actual out of control fire is too late.