Work not taking red alert seriously

[Founderflower]

Why are some people not taking the red weather warning seriously? Where I am it’s 39 degrees on Wed/ Thur but ‘feels like’ 42 according to BBC.

At work they’re expecting everyone in - the office is air conditioned, so fine, but we’re central London so everyone needs to schlep in on public transport.

Red means a danger to life and not just for vulnerable people. Some people who are healthy will die because of the weather. There’s warnings of power outages and transport failures. So what happens if we get stuck on a broken down underground train?

I KNOW other countries see these temps regularly. But they are prepared for dealing with it. England is not and it fucks up. I don’t want a heart attack from sitting in 48 degree heat on a train. I’m really stressed out!

If it were a red warning around severe wind or rain or flooding they wouldn’t be telling everyone to come in! So why is heat seen differently?

It aint half hot mumsnet

I don't commute now, but as I said elsewhere, I used to take a light cotton sundress into work so I could change into it on the way home. It was still pretty unpleasant, but I was younger then and could cope with it. I wouldn't do it now, and have cancelled a physio appointment tomorrow afternoon because I know I would not be able to cope with the journey to get there.

The point is that the Met Office is aware of the severity of this heat, and that's why they say that even people without underlying health conditions could be affected.

No tall buildings do not create a breeze. Built up areas are much hotter than surrounding countryside. Look up the urban heat island effect. OP you’re not wrong to worry about the heat.

No, I haven't been on holiday to a hot country. I hate the heat.

I mean, the temps sure are gonna be hot. However, it always hits 25°C in summer and there are loads of people doing physical jobs day after day.

10-12 hours of manual labour in heavy work gear at 25C, possibly around generators/engines etc, is gonna be way worse than an hour's commute at 35C in which you can wear shorts/t-shirt and sip from a Thermos full of iced water whilst remaining entirely free from physical exertion past carrying a bag and walking onto a train.

I blame the BBC for catastrophising. Chance of death. Honestly.

Hands out grips.

You are keeping the kids off school because it's hot?

Our school opens even when it snows, they are able to care for children if it's hot or cold.

It's just weather. ..

Just because some people can do manual labour in 25 degree heat doesn't mean that everyone else can stand for an hour on a packed commuter train in 35 degree heat, iced water or not.

Not everyone can cope with this heat, whether they have a recognised medical condition or not.

Just because you can cope, please don't tell off those of us who can't.

The Met Office has only once before issued a red warning for extreme heat - they have good reason to warn us that this week's heat could be unhealthy.

I think it will be ok. Albeit I cdo suspect some terrible train issues.

Around 1,500 people died from heat-related causes in the UK in 2025 so there is a risk to life.

That and car fires. I checked my oil and water the other day and topped both up.

For goodness sake, get a grip

The employer would still have a duty of care towards its staff and not insist they come into the office if their work could be done at home.

I'm sorry but you are just spouting nonsense.

I don't think you understand what duty of care actually is and think that it's someone has to be considerate of you and your personal choices.

In the UK it means is a legal obligation to ensure the safety and well-being of others and avoid acts or omissions that could foreseeably harm them.

That applies to an employee when the employee is working - not in their private time such as commuting. However much you see it as part of work it is not.

Thats why an employer is not responsible if you get knocked over by a car on the way to work, but would be if you got knocked over by a forklift in the warehouse.

I agree with you that danger to life means danger to life , and shouldn’t be treated differently when it’s due to a heatwave rather than a storm.
i can only think that people just really lack the imagination to consider what 39C feels like…

Threads like these always bring out the absolute arseholes.

The people dictating that "it's only summer ffs", "other hotter countries", etc. get really grumpy in the heat! 😂

Healthy people don't randomly die just because it gets hot. Drink plenty, stay out of the sun, don't do exercise in the heat. People use public transport in hot countries, people go to work, they take sensible precautions, they don't close everything.

Just seen your update OP.

Thank goodness your company has seen sense.

I hope more companies follow suit for people whose jobs are not essential.

Agree with this. I have a small portion of my journey on the central line and it’s horrible in the heat. Go early or see if you can move your in office days around. Our air conditioning in the office was rubbish today as well.

I’m sooo grateful to all the doctors and nurses at Addenbrooks who are giving my son his chemotherapy tomorrow that they are not thinking the way you are. Take a mini fan, seriously. Or book a day off if your thay worried, wish my 8 year old could skip is chemo in a heatwave.

Next they will be wanting lockdowns when its over 30c.

Hat, suncream and lots of fluids in cool box yup, cheers

Where is everyone getting 38-40 degrees from?? I’m in SE England and our highest is set to be 34…

Do you really think ppl in flats will want that after the way we suffered last time

A responsible employer would not expect an employee to travel to work if the journey would compromise the employees safety

Hurricane, snow blizzard, heatwave.

The met have issued red warning - so red warning it is. Risk to life for people who spend time exposed to it.

If you are travelling to work in an AC'd car - great. If you usually walk or cycle for a fair distance - just don't.

It's pretty simple.

If an employer can't respect the warnings then they don't care about their employees.

DH travelled home from Central London today. The trains are all delayed and messed up because the heat is making the tracks so hot that they’re enforcing speed limits and they’re travelling very very slowly. It’s leading to delays across the train networks