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's nuts imo. I suppose people pay a lot of money so will go regardless unless it's properly cancelled and rearranged.

The main road below us in our village, two fire engines and police cars sirens on have just gone past. Just thought of the kit that firefighters and police have to wear. 🥵

Message circulating locally if you choose to eat out please be patient our kitchen staff need extra breaks at the moment.

Think again

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/climate-impacts/health

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/people/rosa-barciela

Just looked up the gov guidance and it says in hot weather for mass events free water should be given
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hot-weather-advice-mass-gatherings-and-planning-events#considerations-to-minimise-the-risk-of-hot-weather

you can’t take the extra time to charge people for water without substantially increasing queuing times and therefore deterring people from getting water. Really pisses me off how making the cash always comes first.

I mainly WFH but have a team build tomorrow. Employer has said for everyone to WFH but will keep the office open for anyone who wishes to come in still.
My boss has decided team build to go ahead - outskirts of London and physical tasks. I have a long drive each way and am dreading it. I love the sun but not travelling in it or doing anything physical in it. Seems so stupid to force us in and clog up roads / public transport which will struggle just for a bit of team bonding which can easily be postponed.

People passed out, they closed the line between Waterloo and Baker Street because of the heat

Ah yes, nothing like boiling hot weather and physical tasks to bond a team. Seriously some employers live in la la land.

No not really, I’d rather the schools closed too but they’re not. I
might keep her off anyway as I’m WFH now.

It’s not a flex to suggest we aim to act like very poor countries who have huge amounts of poverty, abused workers and large amounts of deaths. 🥴

😂 it is , I lose the will these types of activities

That's terrible. None of us were sent home and by rush hour the roads were horrendous. Very poor visibility, traffic lights had stopped working etc, absolute nightmare.

I've had so many bad managers over the years, they never have any common sense. Not being allowed time off for appointments, colleagues getting in trouble for using the toilet too much, being made to make up time when late because of extreme whether! Happily self employed now away from all that nonsense.

Love it when an indignant poster (trying to sound extra intellectual by using fancy language) gets owned. Well done!

Yes, well the dry heat of Spain is vastly different to the humid heat we have here. And during Wed/Thurs the met is predicting that the humidity is going to be extremely high in those areas experiencing 40 degree temperatures.

I used to live in a hot country and on the day I got married it was 40 degrees but it was dry heat and completely different from here.

Also, it was the decision of the officiants that the wedding shouldn't start till 8pm in order to avoid the heat of the day.

People who live in hot countries tend to avoid too much activity in the hottest parts of the day, unlike people on holidays.

@montysmaw you don’t tend to go on holiday in Spain and spend time in a boiling hot metal tube underground.

Ha ha ha ,clearly not been on a tube ever but the sounds of it !

A national crisis? It's a bit hotter than normal. Don't run around, dress in loose, lightweight clothes, drink lots, use a fan.

It's not going to be a meaningful difference for most people. In the northern U.S., summer temperatures aren't that high. If you go to states like Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Michigan, Wisconsin, etc. air con is fairly rare because they only need it a few weeks per year.

In the southern states, unless your job requires you to work outside, you go from your air-conditioned home in your air-conditioned car to your air-conditioned workplace.

OP dismissed the article I linked simply because it was from America. The vast majority of Americans are not significantly more tolerant of heat than the average Brit.

Again? This is the best you can do? Laughable.

However talented she may be, she knows nothing of physiology, she is not medically trained. In all the time i have been there I've never seen medical studies as part of their remit.

Rosa is an international recognised expert working across science, technology and services. She brings a unique mix of broad and deep expertise built over years of working embedded in Weather and Climate Science (13 years), Services (2 years), Applied Science (7 years) and Policy (1 year) ...

Rosa obtained her PhD, in global Earth System biogeochemical modelling and data assimilation

@CanSeeClearlyNowTheRainHasGone she’s literally a professor of public health at a medical school. Do you think they just give those roles out to anyone? Do you think that despite her doing that role (and therefore also having access to the network and research of the wider medical school) she brings zero scientific consideration of the health impacts back to the Met Office?

Mate! You’re really embarrassing yourself. Just admit it when you’re wrong. We’re all wrong sometimes!

You’ve selected one paragraph and missed out all the relevant bits, such as founding the National Public Health Surveillance System. And

She leads cross-disciplinary teams of scientists, operational meteorologists, technologists, broadcasters and experts in products and services, people development and communication. This work enables the broad use of ensembles across advice and services, including in innovative forecast products particularly in terms of risk of high-impact weather and extreme events, and across multiple sectors and stakeholders.

@CanSeeClearlyNowTheRainHasGone Not to mention that the UKHSA have also issued red health alerts. Or do you think they don’t know anything about health either?

France have just called an emergency meeting due to the heatwave so yes it is causing a National crisis in some areas.

Italy have just invoked emergency measures in cities such as Milan, to ensure payment for outside workers to not work

Try this then: "The UK Health Security Agency has issued a red health warning for six regions of England from 1am on Wednesday until 11pm on Thursday.

This indicates “a risk to life for even the healthy population” as well as impacts beyond health and social care, with potential effects on transport systems, food, water, energy supplies and businesses."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jun/23/europe-heatwave-live-news-updates-uk-red-temperature-warnings-40-degrees-france-heat-deaths-crisis-meeting?page=with%3Ablock-6a3a15bd8f082ef543847a42#block-6a3a15bd8f082ef543847a42