To cut honeymoon short? Heatwave Hell

[hotasallhell]

NC as outing

DH and I planned a wonderful 3 week honeymoon around Europe months and months ago. We’re currently approaching our last week of it (9 days still to go) and in Northern Italy, ITS HELL!

It’s completely unseasonable weather - everywhere around us is on red alert and even the locals/hotel staff just don’t know what to do! We were in a city yesterday it hit the 40’s with 100% humidity and we couldn’t leave the room! Were due to go to Rome today but simply couldn’t face it so diverted to a lake nearby (lost several hundred pounds to do this) and tbh despite showing as cooler (mid thirties) it’s still crazy hot!
DH is really struggling huge heat rash all over his body and I feel unwell with it! We’re fed up and just want to come home but there are basically no flights (or INSANLEY expensive ones) so we’re here in this expensive hotel just hiding all day and venturing out for an hour or two each night to get food!

We have good travel insurance so I’m tempted to call them tomorrow. 😭 I just don’t know what to do! We are supposed to go to another Italian stop after this and then France 😒 all places are on Red alert!

But AIBU to call travel insurance and say ‘it’s too bloody sunny and hot’!

It is forecast to cool down over the next few days.
People suggesting going into the mountains - you have to be way above the tree line for it to be cooler. Then you are very exposed with no shade from the sun which even in spring or autumn can be unbearable.
Forests though tend to be cooler if you can get into one.

Framce has highest temperatures since they started recording.
45.9
Highest temp in Venice ever was in 1977 of 37.2. I don't think they hit that this year due to how the heatwave travelled but they weren't far off. These temps are horrible for countries like us in Europe. Prague had 38. That's not normal. That's nowhere near normal.

People died.

I get why OP moans. I was lucky enough to fly back to UK on the day it fully hit the continent. Still managed to experience 37... Yuck.

I mean, no one sane can argue that these temperatures can be expected🤷‍♀️

Loss of enjoyment isn’t covered by travel insurance so it’s up to you to decide if it’s worth your financial loss

Op my honeymoon was same, in Europe, Italy in heatwave.
Sightseeing was getting to fountain, literally dousing myself with water then back into air con car. It was only made bearable by last few nights in luxury boutique hotel with air con. My god I've never appreciated air con so much

I've been to oz and Africa but this heat was different

know you’re all being tongue in cheek with your ‘well honeymoon is perfect excuse to not leave the room’ but do you seriously think I should do nothing but have sex for 3 weeks? I’ve also got a wonderful case of cystitis thanks to the heat so thanks...but no thanks

Oh you poor thing - I did think that even before you mentioned the cystitis when people were saying "yeah, just bang away all day in your hotel room"...hmmm nothing says feeling sexy like all over prickly heat rash

Also, don't know about anyone else but I'd been living with DH for quite some time before our honeymoon - we had all that time to have as much sex as we wanted as often as we liked without the shame of "living in sin" - the point of our honeymoon was not to have unlimited sex and not leave the room Might as well have booked into the local travelodge!

Of course they can be expected - climate change has been being predicted and warned about for fifty years. This is it. I have every sympathy with anyone suffering it, but please let's not pretend we didn't know this was coming sooner or later and is set to increase.

^ don't be ridiculous.

The temperature is going to drop by 10 degrees next week.

I am beside venice and today was beautiful. The red alert was for yesterday and it didn't hit 40 degrees. It was 35 and manageable. Today was 31 degrees and low humidity. It is cooling down each day. Enjoy the rest of your honeymoon

@onalongsabbatical I don't really know if someone could predict wind strength and direction months before when booking holidays...
Obviously climate change is happening, but this is still a freak heatwave cause by strong winds.

Go home! Your insurance won’t pay but the holiday is paid for now. At least you won’t be using up precious annual leave.

Not sure where you are headed in France but where we are it's supposed to rain on Monday then be cooler the rest of the week (mid-late 20s rather than mid-late 30s). So if you can hang in there it should get better. (We are in eastern France not too far from the Italian border.) Last week has been pretty hellish out, though not too bad as we have an old house with thick walls. A trip to the top of Mont Blanc (cable car thingy) or even the funicular to the glacier can be a huge relief when the weathers like this... typically under 10 up there! Unfortunately school hols have just started here and in neighbouring Switzerland (not sure about Italy) which is why the flight are so expensive.

@stucknoue no it isnt normally this hot in Spain, in the south inland yes it regularly hits 35 plus in August, but here on the coast we nearly always have a breeze and its unusual for the temperature here to be over 28 or so. It's easily managed by keeping in the shade, lots of sunscreen and drinking lots of water to keep hydrated. Adopting the siesta is also helpful as the hottest part of the day is between 3 and 5.

Honestly think you are being very naive about what travel insurance covers.

If you come home you may well save money - add up spending money and money for food and drinks for 9 days along with treats as it's your honeymoon - is that more than flight cost?

If you're truly miserable and just waiting it out I'd come home. You could spend the time going to local places and it's a lot cooler here now. The high was 22C here today. I'd probably try a day of making the changes suggested on this thread and if still miserable find the cheapest way to come back.

It'll be home time anyway won't it, op?

Least you weren't at Glastonbury

I guess if money wasn’t an issue - go home. I doubt insurance would pay for ‘too hot’ ! I wouldn’t.

Rome is wonderful.
Rome in the heat sucks.
I'm still emotionally scarred by the 1 hour queue to get into the Vatican in blazing sunshine.
You made the right choice OP.

You definitely were not unreasonable to give Rome a miss, that would be absolutely hellish but what about venturing further towards the coast? Not as hot there.

@Sparkletastic I was the same, I almost passed out in the queue in the August heat and I think that was ‘only’ 31 degrees.

Are you in the Italian Lakes then OP? Whereabouts are you? Lake Garda? Do you have a car? From what I recall there is normally quite a breeze in the north of the lake , or you can get the cable car up to Mounte Baldo, or drive higher up into the Dolomites.

That said, I don't think I could cope if it's 40 degrees - the above helps take you somewhere cooler if it's early 30's and the weather I think is cooling down over the next couple of days.

I live in Spain part of the year and in the summer no-one goes out in the heat of the day. Stay up all night and sleep all day, keep curtains/blinds closed and windows open. Get a fan and put a bag of ice in front of it, wear cool loose clothing of you do go out during the day and drink plenty of water.

Hopefully it is cooling down now. I'm amazed that you think travel insurance will cover bad weather though. I'm sure that there is no chance!

You have had some great advice. Get up early. Your DH is used to getting up at 5am so the getting up won’t be hard. Yes it’s not ideal if he wanted lie-ins but he won’t be working, you will be spending a few hours sight seeing and then you can go back to the hotel and have a long sleep/lie-in then.

Make the most of it. Don’t waste a lovely long time off that you can enjoy if you can be resourceful and think up good solutions