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.

I hear ya, in fact DH and I just finally decided to have air con installed in our house next year using an advance for a book he's written. We were thinking of using some for a holiday, as we haven’t had one in years, but this final wave has decided us. I am perimenopausal with autoimmune conditions. DS is profoundly autistic and finds it hard to regulate in hot weather. Nobody has had a full nights sleep here in weeks and I cannot endure another three months of this in 2027. We have been tooing and froing on air con for a couple of years (house is also South facing) but we are very much decided now! We are having some work done by council to make DS’s room safer for him and will be paying for the air con to be fitted just after. It’s time.

True. I did say in my original post that some of the human / man made events resulting in fire were by mistake / not arson.

Hear hear. It’s been absolutely sweltering here since May (London also). We are going to Ireland on Sunday so it will certainly be cooler there thank fuck. We’re taking the dog as well so he can finally run around without overheating.
If I win the lottery I’m getting solar panels and air conditioning.

I will be very happy to see all arsonists punished for their crimes. The sight of houses and our countryside in flames is both terrifying and maddening.

But some of it will be accidental.
Boosting our fire services should be an another consideration.
Plus they also deal with issues relating to flooding etc so that will serve us in the inevitable wetter months to come.

I am also considering air con for one room and maybe a loan to finance , no holiday next year , to do something as I’ve been miserable for months. People get nice looking log fires for winter! Although it’s not the same I know that.
Will air con make climate change worse ? I don’t know , people say it won’t , but not so sure. Many people will get it I’m sure though as it’s unbearable and I’d rather be a bit happier even with one installed. Bound to be a problem with it though I bet .

We control the climate. This is literally human created climate change. If you want to make a difference, you can change your lifestyle and lobby government to change their policies too. The consultation on developing the Rosebanks oil field is open until 17 April - you can email [email protected] if you think that releasing an additional 254 tonnes of heating gas into the environment is not a good idea right now

Uh, no. I remember what January and February are like and can’t wait for winter to come back. Some people really prefer it. And it hasn’t been ‘warm’.

But that is the whole point, we aren’t used to it. Most people from traditionally hot countries are born into it, their bodies have adapted - we haven’t. Maybe if this becomes our normal over time we will adapt and children born into this won’t know any different but you can’t expect people to suddenly adapt to this after one or two hot seasons, it will take years.

And what about those of us who have health issues greatly exacerbated in these extreme temperatures? For us this means everything gets put on hold during summers like this simply to conserve energy and to cling on to what remaining health we do have. It makes for a very unproductive time of the year for many.

This relentless heat has just been awful and I'm not sure how anyone has actually been able to enjoy it with the scorching temperatures we've had. Ive felt trapped and panicky since it all began and im bloody fed up of feeling like a prisoner in my own home with curtains permanently closed during the day. I have a health condition that can be triggered by heat and dehydration and its made my anxiety shoot through the roof. Im naturally an Atumn/Winter lover so this constant blaze of heat has been horrendous for me personally and I cant wait for it to be over. Im hoping and praying that this will be the last of the heat this year but unfortunately I dont think it will be. Depressing to think that this sort of summer weather will become the future norm.

It really won’t make any difference. We have to be realistic. It is too late and the public aren’t behind the necessary measures ( which even if enacted wouldn’t have a measurable effect).

My friend has Caribbean heritage and just loves the heat. We agree to disagree when im
moaning about it all ! She doesn’t like it cold , we are chalk and cheese in this respect ditto friends with Mediterranean blood too, they can deal with it and their skin doesn’t want to die a slow death the minute it’s too hot ( as mine does )

Which weather app is this?

It’s unbearable-I’ve cancelled plans with friends and think I’ve lost them over it as they like the heat and don’t understand how some people just can’t bear to be out in it 😬

I had a house built in 1475 once

You had a house built in 1475? How old are you???? Was it easier to get reliable builders in those days? 😜

We’re in the south west and there’s been very little respite - today we woke up to smoke from numerous wild fires in surrounding areas. Everything looks brown and scorched. Oppressive heat and houses having to be kept dark in the day. Bugs and flies everywhere.
My weather app says rain Monday to Thursday. Please, God!

I’m about two minutes from the coast (it’s literally down my road 😁) and the schools were all shut. I have footage of my kids throwing snowballs at each other in the garden ☃️. Quite strange really as we normally have a temperate climate but it seems the Southwest was hit quite hard.

Well, it's still hot here, although not so humid.and no rain forecast until 24h. 🤷‍♀️

I bet it was a lot cheaper than today too 😁

I’m going to miss it. I loathe winter and rainy days. So depressing. Hate the early dark nights. Till next year then.

I’m from the north and I hope to god it stops soon. It’s been hell. I’ve been poorly and not slept much. At this point I pray for an arctic blasts and some snow

No thank you.

1475, good year for building houses.
No red tape, no planning permission or the council getting involved. Just go on ahead !
I also look longingly at my jumpers and the shops are getting them in. It’s too soon really.

Hopefully you are in a detached house not terraces. My one consolation is my neighbours don't have it yet because that will be another thing to woerry about

So sick of this bollocks. Blame the government

I'm no wuss - rarely ever have a day off sick from work, generally very resilient and don't make excuses for myself, have run marathons...but I am not equipped to deal with normal life in this heat. It makes me feel physically ill. It's not a moral failing on my part, it's how I'm built. Of course I'm still getting up, going to work and doing the essentials, but other than the essentials, I'm doing nothing on days in excess of 30°.