To think people don’t seem to understand how hot it is predicted to be next week?

[Toohot22]

On threads expressing concern re the heat, people keep saying ‘what do you think they do in hotter countries’?

According to my BBC weather app, next Monday and Tuesdays predictions are:

35 in Lahore, Pakistan
32/33 degrees in Miami, Florida
33 and 32 degrees in Kingston, Jamaica
29 degrees in Mali (which is the worlds hottest country, apparently!)
30 in the Maldives
38 and 35 in Spain.

The current predictions for me are 36 and 37 degrees.

AIBU to think some posters don’t realise we are talking about temperatures hotter than some of the hottest countries in the world!?

How do people in hot countries cope? Hmm well mny of then die and life expectancy is lower. I'm with @Toohot22 its going to be very tough

I hate the heat in general and also have sensory issues which makes it even worse for me. But I know I can suffer and melt for a few days and then it's over.

I'm very worried about my pets though, I have dogs, cats, and chickens. When it was 30 degrees last week the house was 30 inside regardless of what cooling methods we tried. It's forecast 38 here on Tuesday, I can try and manage the dogs with wet towels and cooling coats, frozen treats etc.

What about my chickens? They don't cope with heat well, one of them died recently on a very hot day (unsure if it was due to the heat but couldn't see any obvious cause of death). I'm terrified of them being outside in 38 degrees, but if I bring them into the house it won't be any cooler, I'm terrified they're going to die from the heat. I was debating taking them in the car with air con and driving north where the temperatures are cooler, but it seems a bit extreme and then I'm not home to monitor the dogs. Currently full of anxiety worrying about my animals! 😥

As is Air con, houses not built to keep the heat in, summer uniforms that include shorts and hats for children.

Oh and one big factor, Australia's summer days are relatively short. You don't have the sun streaming through your windows at 4,00 am.

Then there are the small factors like a fridge big enough to store glasses in along side your drinks, stubby coolers, many more pools than the UK, more white cars - all with air con.

@Saitama can you get a portable air con? I have 2 plus a fan because I don't do heat well. You might only be able to cool one room but if you sort of camp in that room it will be ok.

Draw the curtains then? In hot countries it's normal to keep the curtains closed throughout the day.

I live in a country that regularly get 37/38 degrees in august, coupled with very high humidity (60-70 % as standard, has reached 90) and a house with no air con.

the big difference for us is that our heat starts in May, by the time it really hits in August I’ve had months to acclimatise to it, it takes about 2 weeks to acclimatise to this kind of weather.

top tips:
*drink way more than you think you need, and not just plain water, you sweat out salts and these also need replacing. Check your urine colour - if it’s too yellow you are dehydrated, you are aiming for a ‘pale straw’ colour.
*eat watery fruits like melon, watermelon etc
*slow down! Don’t do things in a rush, don’t walk your dog at midday (burnt paws!) do things first thing in the morning and at dusk. Now is not the time to go for a 20 mile run!
*cool showers in the evening before bed
*use fans, open windows at night and close them during the day. Keep curtains closed to keep our direct sun.
*park cars in shade wherever possible, use a reflector on the windscreen as it helps lower internal temp of the car a bit, but be aware that the interior will get to about 50, so don’t leave anything living in the car, don’t leave anything that can be damaged by melting (including biros - I have a stain on my seat from an exploding biro three summers ago)
*think about clothes - if you are outside it may be cooler to wear longer looser styles. Don’t forget suncream!

You're comparing apples with oranges. It is summer in UK right now, so of course it is hot. Jamaica is going through its rainy season, as is the Indian subcontinent (including Pakistan). It is winter in Mali. Florida is hot compared to other states in the US, but is generally not considered a very hot place globally. If you want to compare the current heatwave in UK with something, compare it to the heatwave in India this summer (that's May-June in India). Temperature went up to the fifties and people died.

It's true that overall we are seeing more extreme temperatures due to climate change. But compared to other countries UK is definitely not very hot. The problem is that the UK is not set up for hot weather, so less air conditioners, fans, buildings set up to keep the heat in, etc. This may be something that required working on. But it is definitely not too hot when compared to global temperatures.

And their infrastructure is vastly different. Don't be so silly

If it had been the first week of the school holidays everyone would be hurrahing, people are just pissed off because they don't want to go to work and school, I bet they will all be moaning if its cold and rainy when the holidays start which it often is.

Such drama nowadays about everything must be because of 24hr news and SM and lack of stuff to do

Life expectancy in Australia 82.9
life Expectancy in uk 81.2.
so no we didn’t die earlier.

It was 46 where i am yesterday. But we have ac everywhere and work hours are adjusted to avoid the middle of the day. And no outdoor work between 10 and 3 and everything stops when we hit 50. We are equipped to deal with it so it's totally different. However, when it rains here, the world stops 😀

The reality is that in hot countries people do actually complain about the heat too.

I grew up in a hot country and 40 degrees plus was the norm in summer. No air conditioning, kids went to school, it was normal. But we did still complain.

I don’t actually think the temperatures will be anywhere near what they’re predicted to be tbh, the predicted temperatures have dropped by about 2/3 degrees consistently over this week. Yesterday for instance it was predicted to be 26 here but ended up only being 23, 34 predicted for Sunday which has now dropped to 29.

I do think it will be hot, but it’s highly unlikely most places will reach 38 degrees, maybe low 30’s, which is still high, but there will be one place which records a temperature of 35 plus for about an hour and the media will be telling us all how the temperatures soared to 38 degrees…

Unaffordable for many. Then if you have a heatwave, all the selfish rich people running aircon set to 16 or something mean you can have a power cut and then can't use a fan or open your fridge.

I live in the north west of Scotland and yesterday we had our coats on and the heating on last night!

Exactly. Keep the curtains shut all day . Most hot countries do not have air conditioning or fancy architecture. People there often live in very basic housing. They probably don't have big south facing windows admittedly. But they don't spend much time in their house and are more likely to be under a tree outside if they have the option.

One of my Australian colleagues is saying the same thing. She is from somewhere pretty remote in New South Wales and said that they usually had late 30s and early 40s all her life. But it is not as humid. Like everyone else in our office she is fidning the heat and the humidity and the badly designed for summer buildings really hard to cope with.

Reading some of the stupidity on this thread, it's clear that the OP is NBU.

38C in a place not much used to such heat is potentially dangerous ( thus the amber warning). It is sensible to avoid strenuous outdoor activity between about 10am and 4pm, perhaps later if the temperature does not drop by then, and to avoid prolonged exposure to the sun (like, say, a school sports day or a theme park). That's not panic, that's exactly what people in hot countries do. In the very hot country where I lived for years, streets were pretty much deserted from midday to late afternoon on particularly hot days. The only people who were out were those with no choice (like service industry workers), and tourists. Everyone else planned life around the heat.

A lot of people in hot, humid places use AC. YANBU to be concerned. Older people, people with heart complaints, etc can be at risk in the heat, especially when the temperature doesn't go down at night.

My window ACs are set to just over 25C (77-78F), which is cooler and more importantly drier than the air outside on many summer nights (US northern midwest). If the temp goes down to 22ish and the humidity goes down below about 50%, we open windows and use fans. If a hot and humid spell is predicted we turn on the AC a few hours before it hits, meaning it doesn't have to work as hard to cool down an already hot space.

We keep blinds down during the day and don't use the oven or the stovetop except for quick items like scrambled eggs, etc as my kitchen faces west. Thankfully we have an instant pot and an air fryer.

I live in an area that gets its electricity from nuclear power stations.

Lol. The ambulance service has collapsed due to chronic underfunding of the NHS. Blame Tory voters not 2 days of hot weather.

I used to teach in a nursery in Dubai. The rules there are that children can play outdoors unless the days max temps are 40c plus. We just switched up our days and had outdoor play for the first hour of the day. Hats, suncream, lots of water. It was fine

Saying 'everyone has aircon there' is like saying everyone in the UK has central heating and so winter is not a concern. Not everyone does. Many can't afford to use it.

I am Spanish and wood not send my children in if they were doing that

you do not find Spanish kids being subjected to that in these temperatures siesta and we avoid sun especially 1-5

It is winter in Mali.

Mali is north of the equator and it is summer there now.

Florida is hot compared to other states in the US, but is generally not considered a very hot place globally.

Florida is very humid, which magnifies the effect of the heat. When it's humid sweat can't evaporate. You end up with soaked clothes outdoors and indoors too without AC. Florida only became livable when AC was invented. While it may not crack 40-50 much, it is incredibly uncomfortable, and what used to be called the 'heat index', AKA what it really 'feels like', can be higher than the temp on paper.

I love the heat, sun and the extra vitamin D it brings but then I work in a cool environment.
In Crete 3 years ago i saw road workers laying tarmac in 35 degrees heat...ouch!
So i get it's hard for many.
I am no climate denier but i remember heat waves 40 years ago as a child and scorched grass.

I just love blue skies and balmy, long evenings.

So for those two days, the South East of England is going to be hotter than some of the hottest places on Earth.

It's hardly a real comparison is it? Given the fact Lahore, Florida etc would be hotter for the other 363 days of the year.

I'm in London so the heat is actually a real concern, I'm not knocking that at all, but you are comparing apples and oranges here.