Why is everyone losing their mind about 28 degrees?

[Vipersgonnavipe]

All I have seen online today are calls for schools to shut, activities to be called off, and some sort of national emergency to be declared over a few hot days.

3 years ago we got to 40 degrees where I am, and nothing closed. What’s the madness about this time?

I agree that schools should not be mithering on about blazers, and water should be available, and sports day in full sun is probably foolish. But really, closing?

I often wonder whether they just take the hit on the cost of air con in hot countries or it’s cheaper over there…

Don't be silly. It isn't minimising and gaslighting.

We don't all live in London and the South East and it is wrong to assume that we do. MN is very Londoncentric sometimes.

Most of the country didn't suffer 40 degree temperatures 3 years ago. Yes it was very hot elsewhere and we had scarily low reservoir levels, but you need to be aware that there are wide climatic differences in the UK depending on where you are.

From mid- May it’s been pretty relentless and as you say, set to continue and even to escalate.

If it carries on, we will acclimatise and it won’t be a problem any more.

Nah. It’s pretty invalidating to be miserable in this heat and be told “it’s not that bad”

FOR YOU, maybe and nobody’s telling that side of the fence “oh! You’re too robust!”

We get the same in the competitive underheater threads.

Finally someone said it on one of these threads 😂

I'm guessing thats a typo for undereating but I love the idea that there's a recurrent theme on MN of people showing off how long they can hold their breath and go diving for pearls 😂

😁

My kindle fire comes up with some ridiculous auto corrects

Italian private houses don't tend to have airc-con though. So yes, you close the windows, the shutters, all day, open up at night. We do the same here, close the windows and the curtains and blinds. It keeps the house cool.

Hotels and air b&b's have air con, otherwise they wouldn't get any visitors these days. Locals don't because it's bad for your health 😊

Back in the day, closed dark rooms and fans were the norm. No air con in the car either. I think we are spoilt these days, and perhaps not so resilient.

Anyone else ever drive across Europe in the 70's/80's with vynel car seats and no air con ..... Now that WAS hot.

Oof, a few summers ago, South of France, 46 degrees.

And the fucking coolant in the rental car’s a/c packed up.

I was honestly nearly crying.

Exactly, we’re all having our own experience of it. It’s gaslighting to say someone elses feelings aren’t true or valid

I’ve never been a fan of the heat but I’m four months pregnant so don’t know what’s hormone and what’s heat allergy!

Still expensive but they save in the winter when other countries are using heating

It is not the daytime temperature so much as the night time one and the humidity that seem more important to me.

Seasonal affective disorder works both ways.

Yeah - I would say the same. I can cope during the day OK, but its at night. The upstairs of my house is sooo hot and just a sheet over me is stifling. I do have a bedroom fan, which is brilliant - but why is it at 3am when I'm thinking I'm about to spontaneously combust, can't feel it anymore?

I grew up in Spain. The cost of installing aircon is high, but deemed a necessity for many. Obviously not all houses/apartments have it. My parents have just moved to a house with no air con and had it installed… it cost them a fortune. However they will use it for longer than we would over here as they have a far longer period of hot weather.
It’s expensive to run, but where they are barely goes under 16 degrees in the winter so they don’t spend much on heating. Their energy bills are basically the opposite of ours, high in the summer and low in the winter.

We just need to adapt.
Lots of houses in the Med have shutters and tiled floors.
Most countries don’t wear school uniform and have longer summer holidays. School hours are different too. When I went on holiday to Malaga, I noticed that schools started early but also finished about 2pm. I’ve got a Spanish friend who’s a teacher and her school has a two hour lunch break and most children go home for it.
Smaller shops that don’t have aircon close for a couple of hours (at least) at lunch approx 1-3pm. This was the norm when I stayed in a village in France.

I remember the summer of 2003, temperatures in the UK were pushing 40°C, and France had a really terrible time. It was serious. This time around, the forecasts aren’t nearly as extreme, but it’s interesting how even 25°C now seems enough to bring things to a standstill here.🙄

It’s currently exactly 25 degrees here (highs of 28 later) and absolutely nothing is at a standstill. Kids are at school, shops are open, everyone else seems to be going entirely about their business as usual. So I don’t recognise this.

sorry, I missed off everything is at a standstill....according to the media fear mongering!

I can tell I’ve acclimated(!) to the US now after 20+ years here because first I had to look up the conversion to F and then was amazed that 82F is bringing the UK to a stand still - it’s going to be a minimum of 35C here all week next week.

This is the first year we will have had air con in the whole house which is a treat - previously we’ve just done a unit in the bedrooms or made do with fans. And in this very humid State it’s a challenge sometimes.

Here are my best tips.

Close all the curtains facing the sun very early on. We have a porch with curtains too and that double curtain shade makes a huge difference.

Get a thermometer which shows you both the inside and outside temps - keep your windows closed if temps are higher outside - particularly in the hottest parts of the day.

If you have window fans that can be turned around to either draw air in or push air out and can set up a cross flow, use that as temps start to fall in the evening and pull cooler air in from the cooler side of the house and push out the warmer air on the other side.

Get a stack of teatowels or thin hand towels - soak them in cold water - roll up like a long sausage and put them in the freezer - when its unbearably hot and humid take one out bend it into a u shape and hang it around your neck - it is the most amazing feeling. And you can keep doing it on repeat.

Don’s use any indoor cooking equipment that adds heat to the house. We either do a slow cooker or grill outside much later in the evening eating 9pm ish.

Love the tea towel tip! I will do that tonight when I’m trying to sleep/

Also an excuse not to cook…

It's currently a very pleasant 24 degrees with a breeze in my back garden, and I am sat under a shady umbrella eating my lunch.

I was looking up train times this morning and there is a warning of
disruption to the timetable due to the weather. Is this so they can say ‘we did warn you’ when trains are cancelled? It’s ridiculous