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?

My son's class had PE today and they made them run in the full sun outdoors. He started feeling sick and then nearly passed out so had to go to the medical room to recover and then a few of his other classmates ended up the same. I agree schools should not close in the heat but some teachers just need to use their common sense and not make kids run in the midday sun.

I’m old er and I no longer tolerate the heat; anything over 22° and I start feeling ill. I have heart failure and that ramps up the discomfort.
i was out before 5am walking the dogs and at 6am it was already 17° here and probably the same tomorrow and Saturday.
Luckily the house is a comfortable temperature, the fan is on and the dogs are coping well. I’m doing as little as possible and actually quite enjoying being downright lazy 😊
Tomorrow I’ll be out again at 5am, it was very peaceful and enjoyable this morning, I have plenty of salads for dinner and cold drinks to hand.
I well remember 1976 when I was a student midwife, cycling around town and surrounding villages like something from Call the Midwife!
Years of working on sweltering hospital wards are engrained in my brain, I truly feel for anyone having to work in such conditions, it’s miserable.

Said the same thing to my DH this morning when the news was spending 50% of it’s time giving heat warnings.

I’m not a fan of hot weather, but about half the world deal with 30° + all summer long and I doubt they hear about it non stop on their news.

Stay in the shade. Stay hydrated.

My classroom was 38 degrees today. Sunshine from dawn then all day, windows that won’t open, no air con, a classroom that is built for 25 children containing 34 children, 34 hot children and 3 hot members of staff.
2 fans which I paid for as school don’t have any.
And my class didn’t moan (much) at all. We went outside in to the shade as much as we could and that definitely helped. It was blooming boiling in there though! Can’t do anything about it unless we can have air con and that won’t happen (not paying for that).

That’s really stupid!!

It's 33 degrees here (west London). It's awful. Anything over 26 degrees and I start to feel ill. I suffer from arthritis (osteo and rheumatoid) and fibromyalgia, and I don't know if that makes it feel worse for me. I kept losing my balance earlier today,it was so damn hot in my kitchen. The other side of my flat where my bedroom is isn't too bad,as it doesn't get the afternoon sun on it,but the kitchen and bathroom side is in the full glare all afternoon and it gets unbearable.

That is being downright irresponsible! Don't these teachers know the dangers of physically exerting yourself in this heat?!

We have our tiny terraced garden almost entirely covered by a gazebo. Paddling pool out and grass hosed down. The kids are happy and cool jumping in dirt puddles, and hopefully will be tired enough that they'll sleep tonight regardless of the heat. I have my feet in a basin of cold water. We're relatively comfortable.

I can feel the heat emanating off my neighbour's gardens, by contrast. One artificial grass and unusable in the heat. The other completely paved and the sun reflecting off it.

We need more grass, dirt and trees.

I said it tongue in cheek….. It’s only going to be that hot for a couple of days. I’m sure most people can manage!

I won’t say they should close but a thing I was thinking about the other day is …feet. Lots of our hot/cold feeling is about the feet. That’s why it doesn’t matter how well you dress up going out in very cold weather with sandals or sliders would make you still feel cold. So I grew up in a Mediterranean country, no uniforms. When the weather was getting very warm we were almost all of us switching to sandals (girls). Younger boys were also had them plus shorts whenever they wanted. When older boys were always with trainers but with shorts and cool cotton clothes. No shirts and ties nonsense and not acrylic blends pants etc. Cotton shorts and T-shirts. I still remember lots of sweat as they were running around towards the end of the school day after the big break, school day would finish at around 1pm or max around 2pm for older children.
They also gave us an unexpected “trip day”. We had an entitlement of 1 such day per month. Bags with books stayed in school and they would walk us to a near park/ square with trees and we were allowed to play games around like tag, chase or with some balls we’d get or just relax under the shade. That day would be shorter so would be finished by 12 and get picked earlier. On very hot days when we were supposed to wear trainers I recall the PE teacher saying it was too hot to be outside if the lesson was towards the end of the school day so after 12 pm. He would keep us in and encourage to colour/ draw something, do our homework (as we get actual books and workbooks from school and our parents knew what we learned at school) or play something “quiet” that doesn’t involve chasing in the classroom to dont disturb the other classes who had different subjects. Like tic tac toe or hangman or guess or pantomime. It would be maybe 2/3 or 4-5 times happening this in June and wouldn’t be missing out much as PE was twice a week anyway. They wouldn’t even told us off if we didn’t wear trainers on PE days.
All in all…. They have to loosen up all these rules with uniforms. I feel especially bad about the boys in those long pants. Allow perhaps open shoes for children, if they want to and feel like it. Or plimsoles, canvas type of shoes for warm days. Or airy trainers, whatever makes a child feeling cooler. That was a big thing (canvas shoes) with us growing up if not sandals or as an alternative to trainers for warm PE days and for feeling more comfortably running around the playground.

Another thing: school year.
I wish Easter break was shorter, so it was just a five school days break plus 1/2 days

So no school on Great Friday and Thursday before so breaking Wednesday before Easter) and then the whole Easter week (Easter Monday etc) and then back
-so 1 week less holiday
-No break in May (just the bank holidays)
-No break in February but just long weekend in between January 6th and Easter holidays (saving 3 days of holidays)
-No break in October but just a long weekend again saving another 3 days.

Thus finishing school year around mid of June, so around 20 June. And back in early September as it is or if needed, a week earlier but preserve that end of August Bank holiday if people really want it, I for example dont find it necessary and perhaps is better to stick it in the mid of August or discard it and stick it in the 5th of November week where a long weekend as I described would be suited for some rest between September and Christmas. It’s practically autumn in most of the UK in the end of August.
I ran these adjustments with AI and it gave me a detailed overview with precise days for past school year and coming school year and it works out nicely with 39 weeks of learning but finishing earlier and having a better summer enjoyment. Children deserve their half of June and whole of July. They can’t engage much with learning and that’s normal.

Good point re the holidays, lots of European countries break up before the end of July.

I like the heat generally, but where I work is an effectively a greenhouse. And Northern rail goes to shit when it’s hot.

We had that in Greece! :)

I had to prize my ds (13) out of his coat and blazer this morning, he had a blazer with a puffa jacket over the top and the hood up.
When I pointed out that it was forecast to be 28 degrees and he was unlikely to get chilly he went into a huff and told me that I don’t “get it”

Amen to that. DfE needs to take notes. Summer in most of the UK is May, June and July and maybe first two weeks of August. April has the Easter break and as I said it could do with 5-7 school days off plus the two weekends, fine.
May has the two bank holidays, fine.
June just seems endless and is such a lovely month. 😓
July most of the times is nice too. Last summer it was a bit of a mess but the warm feeling is still there, after a rain would finish there’s a warm atmospheres too and days are long.
Past summer solstice they shouldn’t be in school IMO.

Jobs for the summer holidays that could last around 9-10 weeks would be a thing to run school camps, holidays clubs. Some extra job openings for the summer then. Or good for practice for some colleges students too. They run anyway now for 6 weeks so I don’t find how they couldn’t adjust for the 9–10 weeks for the working families. Or fund for some council run ones or local organisations ones.

I also find disruptive with their learning and routines the breaks in October and end of February and May. Weather is cool so prime time for learning. They can stick some inset days for these long weekends I was referring to for autumn term and spring term and make it 3 days off school at max maybe and that’s it. May yes it’s nice but you have to sacrifice it for the earlier break in summer. With two bank holidays and perhaps some days of relaxed learning with a visit in a park or local green space (in turns not whole school!) May would pass quickly too without needing of a whole week break.

These threads appear every year. In the end the same conclusion is reached:
Some people like heat and some don’t.

Sometimes the so called drama over tne heat can have consequences. If a child has asthma or sunstroke it is an issue.Most schools in UK do not have air conditioning also 30 + people in one room can be stifling.
I do feel schools could bend uniform rules also more water breaks.

Just been out to water my garden pots and my garden is looking like late August. Seriously crispy!

Yes, didn't a load of elderly people die in Paris a few years ago when they had a heatwave because they had no air con?

We do need more trees but not in small gardens near foundations due to the tree roots.

The back of my house gets boiling, it was 35 degrees in the kitchen/diner today 🔥 I’m going to invest in some thermal blinds to keep the heat out.

I used to love the hot weather but as I’ve got older I can’t cope with it. Feel very sorry for all those cooped up in hot offices and classrooms.

The back of our house gets hot as well. It really is a game changer to keep the window and curtains shut at the back in this weather.

I kept one side of the house closed up today and it was lovely and cool
I’m a redhead so feel entitled to whinge about heat, I’m not built for this!
usually would go outdoor swimming but not allowed for another 6 weeks

You close the windows for the part of the house that is sunny and open the ones that are in shadow. If you have a conservatory you open everything there, including doors if you’re not scared about a cat coming in or a mouse (they grab the opportunity when doors are open) but closing the door that connects your back or side of your house with the conservatory. If you sit in the garden you shut the main door that leads to your garden but leave open the one for the conservatory to have it cooled down.

If you have a parasol close to your house open it and try to throw some shadow on the house especially at the windows or doors. If a side of a house is partly under sun and partly in shadow you can open a window from the side that’s properly in shadow. I don’t believe having everything shut helps, I try to have something open in different directions because you create a current and a little breeze. Only the very first hours from about 8 and till about 11.30 I have everything shut at the back of my house which is south facing so gets sun in the beginning of the day and then mostly sideways as the day goes.

As soon some of the windows are in shadow or the sun isn’t exactly direct any more I open the windows and I adjust the shades/curtains, an open window with closed curtain or shades at an angle is better than totally shut.

Exception was 1-2 days in the heatwave of July 2022 that any open window between 11am to 5/6 pm just brought hot air from outside, in that case you shut everything and stay in the coolest room of the house with a fan and water, that’s the proper heatwave and the reason the houses in Mediterranean have shutters.

Those actions really make a difference @TheSunnyRedHedgehog

My next door neighbour installed an awning during the hot summer three years ago, and a friend has put up a gazebo right next to the back of her house.

The difference it makes is remarkable.