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?

There’s about a hundred replies now telling you otherwise 😂

I think until the UK sees the real results of this level of heat/humidity it won't be taken as seriously as it should be. I can't imagine being on the Underground in those temperatures!

I think @PinkNBlueBunnies has a point. I travel on the tube everyday (including today). My view is it's always hot. But it's so deep underground it's not that much hotter on a hot day.

It was hot today but tbh there was more of a breeze than above ground. Luckily it was quieter than usual. If it had been crammed full of hot bodies it would have been worse for sure.

I also think it varies a lot by line. Central line is ridiculously hot at all times.

Is that what you do on a hot day, spend all your benefits on getting rollicking drunk in a pub and then leave silly comments on mumsnet?

At 15:30 there were a significant number of delayed and cancelled trains at London Bridge. All my trains to Abbey Wood in London have been cancelled.

Forgive me if this is a stupid suggestion, but are busses an option for your route? I'd 100% take a bus rather than use the underground in a heatwave.

UK wide, managers seem to have a real issue in reacting to this sort of stuff.

Presenteeism is A Thing. Not in = Not Managing = Bad.

Research that. It exists.

What do you put the hottest months on record down to?

We've been told to put our bins out earlier as the bin mens' shifts ave been altered to start and finish earlier so they can avoid the hottest parts of the day. Simple. Much easier and reasonable to adapt to the heatwave rather than to expect every day to be a Bank Holiday when the temperature rises above 26C or whatever.

Glad your employer has seen sense. Anyone for whom WFH is an option should absolutely be doing so in this heat.

She has a point in that the actual sun/surface level temperature doesn't have a direct effect. However the hotter bodies coming into the tube heat it up which is why it usually feels so much worse on hot days/summer. People's bodies are working overtime to cool them and that extra heat goes out into the clay oven and gets trapped. It's not just people radiating heat. It's the hot air they bring down with them. As you say,when it's quiet it actually isn't that bad even on hot days. Which is why it's very sensible for everyone who can WFH in extreme heat to do so, it makes life easier for the people who need to use the tube on those days.

What do you mean 'a lot of meetings moving to hybrid'? They are already hybrid - dial into teams, turn your camera on and you're literally there in the room whilst sitting in your pants 300 miles away somewhere far better.

Honestly people have just been brainwashed. There is no need for any laptop meetings to be in person - that's already been proved. Nothing happened to productivity during Covid. People keep trying to prove otherwise to justify an agenda but the fact is that nothing happened.

Today, trains from London to commuter towns were reduced from 4 per hour to 1 per hour. Luckily I was allowed to leave a bit early and avoid the crush. A bit of flexibility at work is sometimes necessary. Saying I can't go in to air con office because travel is too hot is not something I would ask for as they are trying to run a business.

Because they structure life very differently. It’s silly to make that comparison. Also the body can acclimatise to hotter weather but it takes several weeks. So there are multiple reasons not to compare countries. OP, I’m with you.

I don’t have to google it, I lived it. I shared a third floor 1 bedroom flat with 2 other women. It was unbearable. I worked in a hospital and it was very challenging but I was young so coped reasonably well. The elderly, the vulnerable and young children didn’t. The temperatures we are expected to reach this week will surpass those of 1976. A lot of people will die because of it. The evidence and the stats are out there so go and educate yourself.

Train lines buckle & derailments can follow.

So this is all about the adult , what about the child at school and should nursing and care staff just take the day off too. Sorry but an effort has to be made.

Actually you’re right about the humidity. I looked into it years ago as I find British heatwaves awful but I seem ok in other countries. Humidity makes all the difference.

Working 12 hours at 65C is unsurvivable.

I lived it too. I do love this "go educate yourself" riposte though.

The underground is the very worst place to be in a heatwave. I am not a commuter but have occasionally had to cross London on the underground in a heatwave because I was making a journey to another part of the country. It is horrendous and I was travelling at a time of day when, although there were a fair number of other people, it could not be compared with the rush hour. I could imagine someone suffocating because of the heat in those conditions.

If you were to walk for 2 hours during a red threat to life warning, I would imagine the emergency services would be less than thrilled if they had to come to your aid. It’s not always about what you want to, or think you can do.

Hey,I just got home from using the trains (many late and cancelled but the one that ran had aircon!) And central and northern lines.

The tube was like an oven. Interchange wasn't terrible but the number of bodies in the carriages had people literally dripping with sweat. The smell of sweat was horrendous.

@peaksheep I always use citymapper, it's usually updated quicker and it's far more efficient

The northern line was fine for me today. With a breeze on the platform. I was very surprised!

The obvious question is ‘why are you wearing thick trousers’?