It’s over tomorrow, the heat is over for another year

[LaurieFairyCake]

Firstly I appreciate this is not the same for the rest of the country

but we’ve had it horrific here (London). I’ve never felt so shit in my life as I have for the last 10 weeks. I’ve spent between £250-350 a month on electricity (portable air conditioners). I’ve felt anxious, headachy, it’s FUCKED with my peri menopause (brain fog, no words, cognitive decline). I’ve felt tearful and as if it would go on forever. There are moments where I’ve thought I can’t take another moment of this. My sleep is proper fucked.

this has to change. I’ve done everything on a personsl
level I can. Air conditioners only when necessary, above 26 inside (DH has long Covid so literally throws up in heat). His asthma is exacerbated. The dogs have had the shittest summer. I’ve had a couple of rescues that can’t go out about 22 degrees. I reckon they’ve been walked briefly 3 times a week. We deliberately went away on a cheap caravan holiday twice just so they could smile. There were endless days I couldn’t work as too hot in my home office and clients cancelled.

I cannot wait til Saturday.

I hope for solidarity from others. I want to wear a fucking hoodie again. I’ve spent every day sat around in my underwear inside for vast stretches of the day. This is not sexy.

rain is likely next week.

Still boiling hot where I live up North! Supposedly the drought will last till mid September.

Sorry to say it OP, but your air con units will only exacerbate this problem in years to come. I know how that sounds but it's true.

Unfortunately, that's true. So many relying on air con now, it's not good.

Those countries are geared up for it though. We are not. We use tarmac on our roads because irritating doesn't get that hot. The surfaces of roads are melting and getting churned up here. This will cost to put right, and if tarmac is used again, and the heat happens again we will be in the same boat. Same for rail networks, water availability etc.

It isn't so much that we wouldn't be able to cope, it is more the cost and duration of the necessary activities to be able to.

Personally, one of the reasons I live here is because the weather is never extreme in either direction. Well, it never used to be.

I think the difficulty we have is that we can’t even afford to fix potholes and do basic maintenance of the public realm. The schemes you’ve highlighted sound great, but expensive.

On these kinds of threads, there are always posters that say 'you'll all be moaning when it's cold and rainy'. I NEVER moan about that type of weather, because I love it! I also don't go on sunny beach holidays (last time I went abroad, it was to a cool Scandinavian country). We aren't all the same!

I also do all the things @WaitingandWaiting4 says. I only eat meat once a week. I don't buy anything from Shein or Temu. 🤷🏻

2023 September we had a week of temperatures at 30 degrees. So how do we know this is the last heatwave of the year?

Yes, this. This year on the hottest nights I’ve been taking a shower before bed, including washing my hair, and then not drying myself at all — complete with (long) hair streaming water everywhere. Then get into bed (put a towel under the sheet) and put the fan on. Instant cold, and it seems to do something useful to my core temperature. If I’m too hot in the middle of the night I soak a thin t-shirt in water, wring it out and put it on — same effect. NB all of this is much more effective with a fan

I agree, and I basically said as much in the rest of my post. The point was it highlighted that we’re getting closer to Autumn/Winter, so there’s an end in sight for this insane heat.

I loved it. I think I have SAD but for summer.

I’m in rural Hampshire. I have a long thin house and mature trees. The north end of the house is shaded by two trees which means the bricks don’t absorb the sun’s heat. It has windows front & back with curtains and so a through draught but no sun. That room stays cool, no more than 26 degrees when it’s 34 outside.
We have a gravel drive with lots more trees, more shade. No tarmac or concrete. The trees hold moisture which keeps the temperature down too.
Our towns need more trees and a lot more shade.

Yes, totally agree. I wish it would rain. The wildlife is really suffering. It saps my energy and it’s too hot to do anything.

There is always money for a scheme if the powers that be want to implement change.

free bus travel for under 18s and reducing the £3 bus fare to £2 cost £500 million

'I’ve had a couple of rescues that can’t go out about 22 degrees. I reckon they’ve been walked briefly 3 times a week'

Op, yes it's been very hot but dogs still need exercise. It isn't 22c at 6am or 10pm.

Also, I appreciate a/c will feel pleasant but it dehumidifies and the air becomes very dry, this will exacerbate your dh's asthma. You need fans or air coolers where chilled water is used not a/c units.

Exactly. It’s still August.

I hope you’re right OP - I heard there’s potentially another late August/ September. I’m so looking forward to being able to actually enjoy the weather next week rather than hiding inside.

Yes, I've given up hope of ever seeing rain again.

Those weather apps have given false hope all summer.

Agree on the trees.

I went on a holiday in southern France where I knew I had a mile walk to our hotel from the station in 32 degrees. Was dreading it but in fact it was almost all so heavily shaded with trees that it was quite manageable.

I'm across the channel and it was 39C yesterday, 39C again today, and has been like that for over a week. The worst heatwave was not the previous one, but the one before that when we had back to back days at 40C, and night time was 26/27C - there was no escaping it. Yesterday I had to go out in my car which has no a/c, and it was 42C inside the car as I sat waiting for someone who turned up 15 minutes late (with no shade to park in).

I spend my days sitting next to a fan... A storm should break the heat tonight or tomorrow - can't wait!

Not winter for me, but roll on rain.

All the fields around our village are parched, the local fire services keep reporting about retrieving barbecues and evidence of bonfires at fires they have had to deal with.

I am staggered at just how monumentally thick people are. I am getting to the point of thinking that not only should portable barbecues have been banned ages ago, they should ban the sale of matches and other means to start a fire.

Its 28 degrees here on Saturday and still in high 20s after that. Its not over in West Sussex it seems

I'm with you and I rarely complain about the sun. It's been too hot for too long - it's made normal life very difficult. The commute to work, cooking, housework (especially ironing) - all far more difficult in this heat. Our pets have suffered too, my house is in permamanent darkness with curtains and blinds closed to the extent that I lfeel like a fucking troll living in a cave, plans cancelled with my DC because it ends up being hotter than forecast on my days off work and it's too bloody hot to do what we had planned. Too hot to even sit outside and enjoy my garden with a glass of wine and book (too hot for alcohol at all) or to have a bbq for fear of a stray spark sending the whole street up.

I typically love summer, I love seasons and I'd be happy with steady summer temperatures of 25° or so, but this has been unbearable. We desperarely need some rain.

This is a bit like the common argument that there’s “always money for wars”. The truth is that we’re just borrowing the money. If anything, the public’s support for climate initiatives seems to be waning.

Our weather for the forthcoming week. I wish I could send it down to London for you.