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.

😧No. You had heatstroke and were hallucinating. Please 😭

@PacificState But… if this is the end (and I hope it is) I will also remember this as the first time London has felt actually Mediterranean (sadly without the sea); light clothing, hugging the shadows, the air in the evening the same temperature as my blood, iced coffee because you actually need the ice, the smell of hot vegetation, walking around in sandals at 11pm. It’s been memorable, for sure.

You mean a bad memory, surely.

I'm with doggo. Fortunately with less fur.

Sad for people who don’t enjoy it (and of course the horror of climate change generally) but I’ve absolutely loved the sunshine. I’m generally a very chilly person.

@HappiestSleeping I was listening to a meteorologist on the radio this morning who thinks this is the coolest summer we will ever have again. I hope they were wrong.

Personally, I think we have reached the stage at which societies globally should start to perform geoengineering to cool the planet.

The difference is with the winter is you can mostly always put clothes ON. I was out with the dogs in the depths of the shit rainy winter 4 times a week. There were only 2 times I had to have a bath to warm bones after that this winter - and three minor frosts on my car.

whereas this summer, I’ve felt hot in my underwear only every day. There have been NO MORE clothes to take off.

Yes there were a few days of minorly miserable but literally nothing a heated throw couldn’t mostly solve.

Yeah I hear you. I took ddog out about half an hour ago but it was still too hot for him really. Called DH to come out to the green just down from us to bring some water to a very confused looking hedgehog scratching about on the dry grass :(

It's fine though, climate change isn't real and we should scrap any attempts to reverse it because it might slightly inconvenience people

I only said how I’ve felt personally about the weather. I completely agree that there have been some dreadful consequences. But we have the same in winter with floods etc.

It’s ok to say I’ve enjoyed it, it doesn’t mean I don’t recognise the downsides. But I can’t change the weather, only how I choose to react to it.

Long range forecast for our area to mid Sept saying above average temps and heatwaves possible with below average to zero rainfall.

Can only be optimistic we're on the last leg of it.

I was watching a TV drama scene earlier where it was winter and the characters were wrapped up in coats and scarves. I normally hate winter but I was wishing it was like that now and imagining flinging off my coat so I could feel the freezing cold!

Ive been longing for it to end since it started on 22 May. I hate it every year but this year its been relentless.
No aircon in my house because it contributes to the problem, its a quick fix that doesnt ultimately solve the problem.

Wet, cold, dull days of autumn/winter - bring it on! I love days (weeks/months!) like that.

I wish we had the kind of summers where it was lovely and hot and sunny with periodic heavy rain storms that clear in an hour or so and everything is less humid for a while, like when you are on holiday somewhere not in Europe

Absolutely agree with you. What on earth is there to ‘love’ about seeing wildfires destroy people’s homes? Destroy wildlife? Seeing crops ruined and waiting for food prices to skyrocket even more? Seeing parks and gardens reduced to dust as all grass and plants have been scorched? Nurses fainting in boiling hot wards? People living in boiling hot flats that are badly designed and never cool down? To say nothing of the deaths of 1000s of vulnerable people in this summer’s heatwaves? Who could ‘love’ any of this?

The weather has been absolutely stupid this year!
Today has just been bearable at 35C (with a fan permanently attached to me plus 7 more fans round the house)
Bearable only because it's a dry heat coming from the Sahara rather than the ridiculous humid heat we've been getting in the heatwaves in the last couple of months when anything hotter than 26C was way too hot

Its forecast 30C for us here tomorrow & 23C on Saturday (EMids)
I never ever thought that I could cope with 30C & no aircon, but I suppose the stupid 40C we got in 2022 might have reconditioned me as previously 23C was as hot as I could take it.
I am definitely getting a portable aircon unit if next Summer is as crazy.

Looking forward to the rain & cool weather next week as we certainly need it as in the UK we're not supposed to get wildfires well big ones & trains falling off the tracks as the heat has buckled the metal.

The weather is so ridiculous that it wouldn't surprise me if it snowed it September & we had 18C on Christmas Day.

Sadly not. El nino forming again, etc. Sounded quite credible. Enough to make me think of moving further north.

Or at least admit we have gone beyond tipping point and start doing something about it.

I’m in west mids too but my weather is saying max 21 next week with 5 days of rain

It’s only mid August, time yet for more hot days but at least it’s going dark earlier, so house is cooler in the evenings/night

I bet it's been utterly shit for birds and wildlife too - well, life and death for them. So little water, everything dried up - no worms or slugs or things they can eat in our usual damp summers.

today I was so hot on public transport I thought I would pass out.
there are loads of free
outdoor events but it is too hot to go

Yes. The issue is - that these 'wild' fires have almost undoubtedly been caused by people. They rarely just start out of nowhere, that's not a common thing. They've been started either maliciously - stupidly - on purpose (most likely, bored kids, thick bored adults) or by accident. Fckers. Most will get away with it.

It has been horrific. Ironically, I feel like I haven't had a summer, as I've had to spend it indoors hiding from the viciously strong sun! I miss those 23 / 24 degree days when you feel a bit of sunshine on your neck and you can enjoy a bit of time in a beer garden and it's just... nice.

If this is our climate now, I'll seriously consider moving further north once kids through school. In the meantime, planning to buy portable air con once they're back in stock. I will obviously google decent brands, but if anyone has specific recommendations for portable units, let me know! Effective and QUIET would be my two main considerations.

But yeah - I absolutely feel you. Brain fog has been awful and my work has seriously suffered.

Blimey, just goes to show how weather apps vary. I only use the Met Office site.

London is forecast low 30s tmrw, I’m taking that as the heat is still here and fed up of it now!

I’m in a different place so hasn’t been so very hot. I’ve loved it, swam in the sea most evenings. Finishing work and jumping into the sea after 6 is such a rarity usually. So many beautiful sunsets, so many lovely walks.

But the grass is burnt and trees are dying so I’ll be absolutely delighted to welcome autumn this year. Looking forward to cool days with a fire blaring, stew on the stove and a lovely cup of hot tea.

I've been holding out on air con for this very reason, but this summer has been so terrible, I'm going to cave and get 2 portable units for next year for the very worst days. I feel guilty about it, but at the same time we don't have a car and very rarely fly and it's got to the point where I was so miserable this summer, it has really affected me. Although I then immediately think - well it hasn't affected me as much as a f'ing wild fire would,!

I would personally find it easier to reduce how much we heat the house during the winter and use air con for a few weeks across the summer - does anyone know if that balances out, or is this wishful thinking?