Is it normal to feel anxious about hotter summers?

[Cookserella]

Is it normal to struggle with climate anxiety?

We live in the south east and summers have definitely got hotter over the last 10 years. I’m looking at the forecast for this coming week with dread.

Does anyone else suffer from anxiety around this sort of weather?

I get really anxious about any upcoming spells of heat and find myself checking the weather obsessively.

I’m worried what life will be like for my kids in 20 years time (perhaps they’ll all move to Scotland!).

How can I rationalise this? Am I going totally mad?

Yup. I cannot stand it plus it creates a variety of issues for me (extreme rosacea triggered by heat, dishydrotic eczema on my feet that is excruciating, extreme sweating - my body is highly reactive to heat and cold) it’s utterly miserable for me. And my bloody car which I spend a lot of time in had no air con and I’m constantly battling traffic in a city visiting various sites for work before I turn havd to walk around hospital wards which are always still heated even in summer and I’m supposed to look professional.

London is forecast to be 39 degrees on Tuesday.

That's not just 'warm'.

Some people 🙄

You aren’t alone. I am extremely anxious about climate change. I am anxious about very hot weather and about winter storms (which are worse than they used to be- where I am at least).

But I have anxiety generally. If it’s not fixated on the climate, it’ll be my health or my children’s health or my husband’s health, or Trump or societal breakdown or social media or AI or nuclear war… My brain seems to need something to be anxious about all the time. 🙄 SSRIs work but I hate them because they squash everything- anxiety yes but joy too. I wish I could be a positive, ‘live in the moment’ person, but I don’t know how.

Paris weather forecast for coming week:

36, 39, 40, 41, 40, 38, 35

I can’t believe Paris is hitting 40s in June! It’s not even one isolated day.

Well i’m thinking about the days when it will be 39c. Neither school nor nursery have air con. Lots of people is one room is a possible cause to heat the place up even more. My garden office gets hotter inside than the temperature outside. My theory is that they may call it a day as it’s just too hot for the kids.

im the same! Hate the summer weather, if it was my way I’d have autumn all year round! My favourite time of year 🍂 🍁 🍃

Has everyone got their air conditioners for the evenings, I generally have mine on if it gets to 30 inside, last time it was hot I only needed it upstairs as downstairs doesn't get so hot.

It’s not just here that the extreme heat scares me, but the affects globally. The poor countries that will lose crops and livestock because of the severe heat and droughts, countries that are already struggling to feed their people and it’s happening now.

I read Tim Wintons book Juice which is a dystopian climate-fiction novel, based on a heat ravaged Australia, and whilst I read it because of the dystopian element, it really hit home just what life could be like if we don’t start seriously tackling climate change now!

No. Not on a personal level as I run very cold, so 30 degrees plus is lovely for me.

On a global level, yeah, it’s terrifying.

For me, I don't worry as such. We know what we have to do to keep our house as pleasant as we can, with firm window / curtain opening / closing protocols.

I am concerned about my elderly parents. Since the last heat wave I have taught them what to do with windows and curtains but I expect it won't be sufficient, and my DM has a lung condition too.

DD does a weekly volunteering thing outside. I have said this week she needs to do a half day only and come home 11.30.

Yes I remember them and also my doctor back then saying that with my heat intolerance it appeared that 23 degrees was the point where I started to become ill and that maybe above that I should avoid going out. Nowadays I spend every summer anxious that I could be in serious trouble having to work, run errands etc when it’s so hot.

I teach and it's horrendous when its really hot.

I think schools should give parents at least the option of keeping them off but obviously some can't. But really in 35 degree heat you are just babysitting. In some ways you are better off in the shade outside then in a stuffy non air con classroom with huge windows. At 35 fans stop working really.

I’m the same OP - the extreme heat makes me frightened, anxious and unable to function properly. We are in London so I am dreading the coming week. As others have said, I remember when summer meant 22-23 degrees, not 35-36 (yes we had the odd outlier like 1976, but now it’s 1976 every year). It makes me frightened for the future.

And with the direction Mumsnet is taking these days, I’m amazed no one has yet turned up to say ‘stop whinging, it’s just summer!’

If everyone hates the heat so much why do so many still go on those European beach holidays

Because 36 degree heat sitting by a pool or in an air conditioned hotel, in a country whose infrastructure is set up to cope with hot weather, is not the same as trying to go about your normal life in the UK where nowhere is equipped to deal with these temperatures.

Because working and going to school in British heat isn’t exactly the same thing is it

Out of curiosity, at what point would the school make the decision to close?

i get worried about the hot summers but more worried about the rain and flooding.
i can drive in the heat even without air con
but i struggle in the floods and heavy rain
and we have a super el nino due to affect us this winter

I think the main problem is that our buildings and infrastructure arent made for this kind of extreme summer weather.

A lot of school playgrounds have had trees removed over the years and have hardly any shade.

Our buildings are generally designed to keep heat in.

Our gardens are designed without drought and heatwaves in mind.

Our water reservoirs aren't enough for the long term.

The water one is the scariest thing for me. We privatised water a long time ago and it was a dangerous mistake handing our supply of water over to money making corporations that would rather fork out to shareholders than think long term in terms of structure, repairs, future demand and supply, etc.

I do worry long term for my kids, and their kids. But even for us in old age. The water issue is much closer than people seem to realise. 😢

I generally try not to freak out about it all but it's tough.

And not helped by the fact my youngest HATES hot weather and really struggles in the heat so we are all fucking exhausted.

i am worried for my family in the intense heat, my grandson and my dm
as well as my dc

I think its going to be quite hot today, DH is running a marathon in the Home Counties, I bet he's sweating

Anyone who isn’t at least slightly concerned about climate change isn’t really paying attention.

Adaptation is the only way now. But instead we opt for plastic grass. Honestly it’s over there’s no saving this.

WWIII won’t start over oil it will start over water.

the WHO states that the safe working temperature is 24 degrees. There is no legal maximum working temperature in the UK (there is a legal minimum). Consider that children are more vulnerable.

the school (and institutions nationally) need to decide as part of their risk assessments at what temperature children are at danger from heat, and mitigate it with cooling, change in activities or closing the school if necessary.

it’s not rocket science - you’d have a risk assessment for what happens in extreme cold, why not extreme heat - the answer : because people like to think this is still exceptional - it’s not. This is the new normal and we are woefully unprepared.

Schools generally don't have air conditioning.
They may well not have blinds that are effective against heat.
Kids then have journeys home in the heat of the afternoon, either long walks or buses which again may not have air conditioning.
We are recommended not to go out in the main heat of the day.

It isn't, in my opinion, at all unreasonable for schools to consider their specific circumstances and consider closing.