About the heatwave

[MeltingPregnantLady]

I live in the south east. I can't remember when I last saw rain but the air is continually humid and oppressive. I can't remember when I last slept due to it and now find myself waking at night panicking due to the lack of air despite having fans on the go all the time. I'm worried that if this heatwave goes on much longer I will break down and am seriously considering leaving the country- but to where? It seems most of the globe is like this at the moment with freak weather events happening, Europe is mostly like the UK and not improving.

I don't know if it's because I'm heavily pregnant in feeling like this - overwhelmed and panicky- or if any non pregnant types are. It's just too much now.

I like hot weather usually, but tbh, ive never really had it this hot for so long. Usually its like this hot when on holiday and then thats never for so long. In the UK we only ever usually get it this hot for a fewdays, and its been weeks and weeks now.
I could do with a few days around 22/23 tbh, this 30+ stuff is getting a bit much

Not gonna complain too much as im sure ill miss it when its gone.

YANBU. My anxiety increases in the heat and I feel exhausted. Normally I love warm weather but I cannot stand the oppressive humidity. It makes me feel I can't breathe and that makes me anxious too.

OP the suggestion of a hotel with Aircon is a good one, even a night or two to help with some good sleep, doesn't even have to be expensive, I'm in a premier Inn all week for work this week, invoice tells me it was £48 a night , it's newly refurbished and has chillingly cold AC, I was in another hotel with Aircon last week and it's keeping me sane and I'm only five months. Going home at the weekend was stifling

thebulletin.org/2018/07/global-heat-wave-an-epic-tv-news-fail/

Epic climate change. As if we hadn't been warned already.

Op just buy a small aircon unit! I bought one for my sons room which is the hottest in our house...(South East here) and we have all been spending lots of time in there, its fab! He is sleeping better than all of us...

Meant kindly (as I also had a baby at this time of year).. it is called summer. Everyone has to get over it, it’s warm because it’s july. It will soon be cold, rain, windy etc.

Can you not spend the days relaxing and enjoying the nice weather rather than rain? Can you not get fans for your bedroom or go for a nice cooling swim in a local pool?

It’s not even that hot anymore. (I’m also in the SE.)

I’m in Yorkshire and over the past 4-5 weeks we’ve had about two days of rain. One was two days ago and it was fucking delightful but the trouble is, it doesn’t last long and it’s back to being humid again the next day.

You have my sympathies, I’m also pregnant and seriously struggling like hell with it. August usually rains, hoping it isn’t too warm for the whole month.

Cool showers, wet hair, wet, cold flannels on your head, hot water bottles filled with cold water, iced water to drink.

I hear you, it's not very pleasant, is it? And I'm not pregnant. Hang on in there!

33 wks pregnant - living on ice lollies like they are their own food group. Two weeks of work/commuting left. That's when it'll break and go back to normal, no doubt (Sod's law)

I'm so over this heat. And I'm not even pregnant just fat

It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't work 15 hour shifts in a building with no air con and the heating still on in some rooms.

The heat makes me light headed and nauseous. At least on my days off I can have a cool bath, keep a drink in my freezer and lay in front of a fan.

I'm In SE, 32 weeks pregnant and I love this weather! I'm sick of people saying to me 'oh how you coping in the weather??' Then moaning about it.
I love summer. I'm working full time at as a beautician back to back, no air con on my hugely swollen feet all day up to the day I'm being induced and yet it feels like holidays. Bring it on!!! Yes summer!

To be fair I am using my asthma pump more but I can live with that

North and mid Wales coastline not warm this week, 18-19c. Peak District also lower temps. No need to travel as far as Scotland if just after cooler temps unless you want to of course.

Metcheck saying 39c first weekend of August in our area...really hope that doesn't happen as can barely function in this heat as it is.

Years ago, when I was 8-9 months pregnant, I lived in a very hot and humid place and the air conditioning broke down. What saved me was keeping a bath full of lukewarm/cool water, that I’d get into several times a day. I’d sit there until my inner core was chilled. It really helped until the AC was fixed.

And in the meantime, look up climate change. This is just the beginning - and you want your children to live too, yes? The effect of climate change in relation to this heatwave has been one of the most under-reported things of all under-reported thing ever. This is it. This is climate change.

ToeToToe, if the Gulf Stream convection currents get shut down because of too much fresh water being melted into the oceans the UK will be plunged into a deep freeze. So let’s hope it is not climate change.

I'm in SE and hate it hot at night. But it hasn't been that bad. Me and dh were saying that it cools down very kindly at night for us. And although the thermometer is saying 27/28 degrees it doesn't feel that hot.

No rain though (and none forecast for the foreseeable) and all the plants except weeds have died in our garden. No lawns round here-they resemble a field after harvest.

Currently living in a place with c. 35º temps and 85%+ humidity.

But I'm not going to tell you to suck it up, because I have a/c and am miserable without it. When our power cut out during a storm, I lasted about four hours before I risked a quick dump of water over my head. (Couldn't take a shower during the lightning storm.)

However, this has made me a bit of an expert on miserable thick heat.

First, I second the idea of a cheap hotel with a/c, just for a couple nights.

Barring that, if you can't/don't want to get a cheap window a/c, I would recommend a dehumidifier. They're also useful in the winter when it gets damp, so you won't feel like you have a temporary appliance. In fact, it speeds up laundry drying if you don't have a tumble drier--a key UK appliance, if you ask me.

A dehumidifier will suck the damp right out of the air, and then the ice-in-front-of-a-fan will feel so much better. You can get a seriously powerful one for under £150, or if that's a stretch, a less powerful one for £50--and it will deliver the next day from Amazon. So, for example, Humidifier . Or, if you'd rather something smaller, Smaller .

You also need a decent fan, not the crappy rotating ones. I use a Vornado, which is incredibly powerful. That with some ice in front of it will feel amazing, particularly if you mist yourself first with a spray bottle.

Honestly, once you suck out the moisture, it'll feel so much better. It will still be achingly hot, but it won't feel so thick.

I feel really sorry for elderly people in this oppressive heat and don’t know how they are coping.

How many threads on the same now?

I'm sick of the news and papers lying - we're always being told it's a 'hot week' when these record-breaking temps started in June and will rise and rise, ever hotter, through August. No news yet about September.

Presumably the climate change editorial policies of the BBC and the broadsheets read 'Don't tell the public anything or they'll panic'. But they need to change - we've noticed.

It isn't responsible to withhold information from the sick and the old who need to take a lot of precautions to deal with months of extreme heat.

Extreme heat, like extreme cold, is very hard on the body. Not to be molodramatic, but heat kills. Kyoto is having a London-type heatwave - 30 people died from it this week alone.

Some of us with disabilities really should be warned so we can make arrangements for aircon, asthma treatments, safe travel and extra meds to manage through the unending weeks of severe strain on the body.

If I were pregnant, I'd get a portable air con unit, I had one years ago during one of my pregnancies and it was ace, used it for years, it's now abroad sadly, I wish I had it here right now! They are about £300 but it is just wonderful to have one cool not humid room.

Lana i agree...............it is starting to feel like they are lying.

Get an air conditioner unit. They’re moderately expensive but if they help you sleep then it’s money worth spending.

It's not just a case of people not liking this weather and whinging. It is very difficult for people with various health problems.

I sympathise OP. I'm on holiday in the Lake District where it's a bit cooler. We had rain on Friday and it was amazing. But most days it has been quite hot here too. My heart sank when I checked the forecast at home (South East) and the lowest max. temperature for the next two weeks was 25.

I have cancer, which has spread to my lungs, and asthma. I struggle to breathe properly in this heat. I can't walk more than a few hundred metres. So I've basically been stuck in my house for weeks on end. Others I know with similar health problems are having the same issues. It's alright for me as I don't have a job and others can do shopping/errands for me etc. But it must be a nightmare for anyone who is not so fortunate.

I have been trying very hard not to complain about it. There seems little point anyway as there's nothing to be done. But it's a bit unfair to imply that anyone who is struggling in the heat is just a spoilsport who doesn't like summer.