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?

We've hit 40 once in Lincolnshire not West Mids. July 2022

i dunno op - this is just life now we have hotter summers - we can't just close down every time

i just get on my bike with my 2 year old and cycle to nursery and on to work - no chance of gettting trapped in the underground- lots of water and take my time - sun cream us both!

i leave around 7.30 when its cooler and we head home about 4.

5 year olds school have said don't worry about uniform just dress lightly and they are having a blast eating ice lollies and and water play

same as the nursery they have been playing with animals frozen in ice cubes this morning and paddling pools

my office has fans - i close all the blids before i leave in the evening to keep it cool as well

Because it kills 175,000 a year in Europe

Get a grip, it’s two very hot days not Armageddon. If you are so stressed book annual leave and sit in a dark room.

It hit 40 here in summer of 2022. I was 8 months pregnant. All I had to do was walk from my air conditioned car to my air conditioned office for approximately 5 minutes and it was awful!

Perhaps we all need to prepare better for this type of heat like other countries? Whether that’s buying big fans, handheld fans, sun umbrellas, air conditioning etc. I don’t have the answers obviously but if this is going to become more problem we should at least do what we can to prepare.

It's not about being scared, it's about workplaces taking a responsible attitude towards their employees.

Also the tracks always melt so people will have difficult journeys home.

OP, would you be happy if hospitals closed and all NHS staff got sent home?

Pretty sure the minimum wage hospital cleaner would love to take the day off.

Yes I know everyone wants a day off!
Most people wont be travelling in the hottest part of the day.

Have you been on the underground? It's bloody boiling on a normal day!

I'm in the office Wednesday and Thursday and even though our air con isn't very effective, it'll be cooler here than in my house after a couple of very hot days and nights where the house will have heated up and won't cool off well at night. Cycling in at 8am is fine, cycling home in the sun and 34/35 degrees will be less pleasant, but overall probably worth it to have had 8 hours in more pleasant temps.

I live and work in London. There is no way I am going on public transport until the temperatures have calmed down. The idea of being on the tube is particularly hideous; buses a close second. The overground has air con at least but I'm assuming they will be packed this week due to people avoiding other modes of transport.

Luckily I am able to cycle to work and back, and it was realty nice to do so this morning.

Er, try the Victoria Line on Wed or Thurs and come back and let us know if you stand by that comment!

Fucking hell this thread. OP is perfectly right that employers should be taking their duty of care to staff seriously.

I live in Italy. Those little gel packs that live in the fridge are no use once we get an an orange alert. If I’m going anywhere I use a mini freezer bag with as many blue ice packs as I can fit in, and a light scarf to wrap one in so I don’t get freezer burn on my skin.

Another trick is to travel REALLY early, although at this point in the year than means getting up at 5am and as late as you can.

I totally failed to get up early this morning so I’ll be going to the supermarket as late as I can get away with this evening.

I love the light here, but dear god my British genes were not built for the heat and my body goes on strike

Most of London is walkable. It takes me 20-25 min to walk from Waterloo to the City.

... and people fly to hot countries like Spain or Turkey for their summer holidays to roast in the sun.

Thin cotton or linen clothes,
Plenty of water,
Factor 50 cream,
A sunhat
Move slowly
Avoid sugary, carb heavy food. Stick to fish, salads, fruit & veg with dressing

You'll be fine OP.

How many office workers has it killed in the UK?

OP, ask if you can take annual leave, although you may have left it too late.

And then pray that all the NHS staff, police, fire fighters etc aren't too worried to travel to work too.

No but I imagine many NHS staff would prefer to not be more overworked than usual by people collapsing on the tube or wherever. Hospital admissions and deaths spike during a heatwave, so I think most A&E staff would rather people did WFH rather than end up there.

I fainted on the tube once and it was winter - horrible way to travel on a cold day! In 35 degree heat it will be hugely uncomfortable and unpleasant especially as you know you'll be standing up and squished next to other hot bodies. We're just not equipped to deal with extreme temperatures in the UK which makes it even more uncomfortable and potentially dangerous. I don't envy commuters this week. I would be campaigning for some wfh days if possible but if you're in a customer facing role, hospital, shop etc then there's not much choice!

All those saying to get up early and walk - it’s about a 2 hour walk. I am a single parent so can’t leave before I drop my child off. I will need to travel at 8:30 and return at 5pm

OMG - are you a Londoner?

Because the tube will be an absolute furnace, tubes are more likely to get stopped (passengers fainting, signal failures etc) and the thought of that is chilling (no pun intended at all)

www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/london/how-hot-is-the-london-tube/

so you won’t be travelling in the hottest part of the day.

Depends which line.

Yes, I was meant to be doing a sports event that day.

And guess what, they cancelled it! The organisers accepted that getting people to run 5k in the middle of London when it was forecast to be 40 degrees wasn't very clever.