To think that actually, it is hot

[miaowmiaowhiss]

AIBU to think that just because other countries get hotter than Britain, does not mean being here during heatwaves is lovely and fun? We don't have the infrastructure for heat - see the trains going slowly to prevent buckling, total lack of air conditioning in most homes - and we aren't 'culturally' prepared for it - look at all the threads about schools who expect children to be out for significant lengths of time during the hottest parts of the day.

I grew up somewhere with average summer temps of 105 degrees - and it was fine because the infrastructure was there and everyone knew how to keep themselves cool.

So basically, AIBU to think that it doesn't matter that other places are also hot, it's hot here now and it's bloody annoying and getting in the way of normal life!

I really like it. I am slightly unwell this week anyway and the heat is not helping, making me a bit dizzy and faint at times when I have to rush around - but when I can just snooze and relax in a shaded but warm place I love it.

Think I was a cat in a former life

I would get really stressy though if I was forced to be in the glare of the sun ie beside a window with no blinds or curtains, or driving with the sun angling right in my line of vision. My eyes can't handle it at all and I feel terrible rapidly. Because of the current dizziness I am avoiding rush hour tubes as I don't trust myself not to faint just now if crammed into small, boiling hot space. Otherwise I'm pretty resilient to the heat.

Basically this was a rambling way of saying I think a large part of what makes it not enjoyable for some is that if they have no choice but to get the tube at 8am, work in a humid office etc then it's totally understandable that they will hate it - but if you have a flexible lifestyle, you can enjoy the sun more.

At my kids school they're having sports day for years 1 and 2 at 1:30 today! I'm really hoping they cancel/rearrange it.

YaNbu - in this heat!!!

It is quite difficult in the UK as it can be fairly humid and that's what makes the hot weather more difficult for many people. In a desert dry heat of 35 degrees I am fine but here I sweat and feel uncomfortable.

In other countries all their shops, offices, public transport and most homes have aircon which makes a massive difference.

Plus in the UK we get the huge temperature differences. Before the "heatwaves" it might be 15 degrees then overnight it goes up to 30, with no build up so our tolerance is naturally lower.

I couldn't deal with this if I didn't have a fully air conditioned house.

It's a very pleasant 15 degrees in Edinburgh just now, although can feel the sun through the clouds occasionally. You should all move to Scotland!

I really hate it when people start minimising it.

Yes, you might like it but for millions of people its bloody uncomfortable.
And public transport is a nightmare.

I totally agree. DH told me to stop moaning yesterday on the basis that "how will I cope when we go abroad next week"

Erm, well, the air conditioned apartment, the swimming pool and the not having to go to work wearing a fucking suit might help

I got in my car to go to work at 4am. The temperature was 20 degrees. Not cool. In any sense of the word

Its horrible. And Ive got a whole day of housework that DH promised he'd do at the weekend and hasn't done because he couldn't be arsed ahead of me. It needs doing as I have the judgy mare from hell aka my mother coming over later. I'm fuming. Today was supposed to be a lazy day for me.

I was in Lanzarote last week and it felt cooler than here, despite the sun actually feeling hotter. It's the humidity here that's the problem, isn't it?

Its definitely the humidity that makes it unbearable. It's suffocating

some people love it, others find it really hard to cope with. my dd home from school with a headache and spent all night feeling very sick. it is cooler here today though.

It is hot. Ive just been to the supermarket - 20 minute car journey. when i got in the car at 930, the temp read 26 degrees.

In the time it took me to get to where i was going the temp went up to 28. By the time i pulled up on my drive, it was reading 29 and its only 1030

Normally it goes down once the car gets moving...

YANBU.

I live in a hot country so am fairly used to hot weather all year round. If it drops to 26 degrees here the locals all wear coats and hats!

We are coming home next week for the summer holidays and I'm dreading not having AC and/or fans in every room to cool us down. However, it will probably be all over by the time we get home. It usually is!

YANBU. Our houses are designed to keep the heat! Makes it bloody miserable sometimes.

Thankfully it looks like only a few days before it drops down to a nicer temperature where it will at least cool down a bit in the evenings.

Yanbu, too hot for me.

I came home from work at 8 am, it was 28 degrees already. I've tried to sleep after my night shift and failed. I'm knackered and have a headache but I'm too hot to sleep.

By time my holiday comes round in August it'll be raining again. 2 weeks in the Lake District and I'll be wearing my waterproofs again I expect. The joys of the Brititsh weather.

Agree op it doesn't help that some industries are so inflexible in high temps my oh is a gas engineer and has to wear full uniform and boots (for h and s) he works in very cramp hot conditions not sure how he's getting on today :(

Ditto wishful - I was complaining yesterday, even though both DD and I had spent the day in nice air-conditioned buildings. DP spent the day wandering around in a stab vest and heavy belt. I stopped complaining quite quickly

My plan for tonight is to drink quite a lot of wine so I'll just sort of mildly pass out fall asleep

YANBU.

The problem is not so much the heat, more that we are so unused to very high temperatures that we don't have the infrastructure to cope with it. And this includes not planning activities during the hottest part of the day. Because of the variability of British weather we'll never really cope with it either. Likewise snow and extreme cold.

PS. While I'm prepared for the meteorologists on here to prove me wrong, I don't recall summer heat being anywhere near as hot as it is nowadays. DH and I (both old gimmers) were having this very conversation at the weekend. Only in our youth, 'hot' was the mid to upper 70s. Nowadays, when we get a heatwave, temperatures are in the mid-80s or higher.