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!?

I'm my defence the 25 degrees was a type and I'd meant 35 but seemed pointless to go back and correct because people on here would argue regardless.

I agree, OP. I'm from one of those hot countries originally. I'm managing with the heat but I've been surprised and a little worried by how many people here are blase about it.
For example, I was asked out by friends to an outside event at midday at place where there was little shade. No one would ever schedule something like that for midday outside where I grew up.
Back there, we go out early morning and in the evening when it's cooler. You stay inside during the day.
A lot of parents at DS' school were asking if the children could wear their PE tops (short sleeves and open necks). We got a frankly batshit memo about the clothes not being important as long as children took other measures like drinking enough water. Their only concession was that they don't have to wear blazers in class but still need to bring them in and wear them to and from school.
The idea that a long sleeved shirt buttoned at the neck along with a tie and blazer is somehow no different in the heat to short sleeves and an open neck is just mad.
There are systems to deal with the heat in other countries. People take precautions and adapt their lives accordingly.
If it were the other way around, this would be the equivalent of people in hot countries saying that 'people in cold countries manage just fine' and then going out into a blizzard wearing just shorts and flip flops.

There’s big difference between 25 and 35. 33 for Newcastle is really unusual. And if it’s that hot up here then 40 in London/SE is entirely possible, which would break records.

I feel like I can really speak on this topic as I'm terrible at coping with the heat (overweight + early menopause). A run of 26 or 27 degrees in the UK wipes me out, and I can't even fathom 32 or 35.

However, I lived in Japan for a year. The lowest temperature all year was 14 degrees and it was 35-37 degrees all summer. It wasn't that big a deal, because everywhere was set up for it. Houses are designed to deal with heat rather than cold, and air conditioning is everywhere. There's plenty of shade built in to the design of the cities. Work dress standards are relaxed ("cool biz"). There are vending machines selling cold drinks everywhere and you don't go anywhere without your flannel or neck towel which can be topped up with cold water all day long. I spent an entire day walking around a city at 40 degrees and whilst it was very, very hot, it was manageable because the infrastructure is designed to help people do that.

Here, our buildings are designed around it being really cold and wet, and we don't have a proper culture for dealing with hot weather. It's why the Brits are infamous for getting horrendously sunburned - we don't get enough hot weather to know how to deal with it. Add to that the fact that our houses are designed to trap heat in, and the fact that very few places are air-conditioned, and the fact that we don't all have the benefit of cities designed according to the climate, and these periods of extreme heat can easily be fatal.

Where I live the main windows face west so unless all the curtains are drawn at lunchtime, the house bakes. You probably wouldn't get that setup somewhere very hot.

You do in central European countries, which tend to be much hotter than the UK in summer and much colder in winter. Houses are built to retain heat. In summer everyone closes curtains, windows and blinds during the day. Houses are cooled by opening everything at night.

I think it would be more helpful to look to Europe than Mali or the States for comparison. UK infrastructure won't change overnight but there are plenty of helpful habits which we can adopt straight away.

Take care of yourselves and be sensible is as much as I can say. I feel for those who must work in hot conditions, or commute on PT etc. The rest of us are in a much better position to do little or nothing and stay as cool as possible.

I am much more concerned about extreme winter weather, especially this year with an energy crisis and prices going through the roof. It is easy to say that two days of extreme heat will be hard to take, but a cold damp winter from say November to March is going to be much worse if people cannot afford to stay warm indoors properly.

I think it would be more helpful to look to Europe than Mali or the States for comparison

like Spain, maybe?

Or maybe some people enjoy the heat. As someone who spends most of the year sleeping fully clothed under a 15 tog duvet it's nice for a few days to be able to wear just shirts and a vest and kick the covers off. Stop assuming everyone is stupid and can't understand basic forecasts. It was hot at times last summer and the one before - this will be a bit hotter that that. What's not to understand?

But clearly some people are not understanding - like the school a PP mentioned who want to make the children take part in a cardio workout on the hottest day of the year! Whoever made that decision obviously doesn't understand. Or the people who won't be using suncream and hats and sitting in the sun in the middle of day drinking alcohol and no water. Its one thing enjoying the heat but we should be sensible about it.

There will be people who are very vulnerable who will die due to the heat, no that doesn't include the vast majority of healthy adults and children but it will happen. Excess heat causes excess deaths (and I know cold weather does too, people shouldn't be so blasé about those deaths either).

Well the people drinking alcohol in the day will have done so last year in just a couple of degrees cooler or on holiday abroad with the same results. It's not a lack of understanding they clearly don't care. I can't speak for one individual school planning a hike - perhaps they will still cancel it?!

And a lot that could be built into the design of new homes and renovations - things like shutters which can make a big difference to both heat gain and heat loss, and which are common in eg Central Europe.

It will be bloody hot. My home Central European home country gets temperatures like this but the UV radiation is not like we have here and the humidity os different. I'm suffering a lot more here.
Ans my kids won't go to school Mon and Tue to bake i.n the classroom.

And I wouldn't agree with PP who've said that our housing and infrastructure are particularly built for the cold, either. The majority of our housing stock is built to be cheap, and nothing more.

We've got some of the leakiest housing stock in Europe, which means we use a lot more energy to heat our homes because they're as shite at cold as they are at hot.

Events should be cancelled if there is a red weather warning. It's no different from the high winds we had earlier in the year. Red means dangerous. Earlier this week I said there's no need to close schools but if there's a red weather warning I have changed my mind.

And a lot that could be built into the design of new homes and renovations - things like shutters which can make a big difference to both heat gain and heat loss, and which are common in eg Central Europe.

Yes rolling shutters are helpful in winter and summer. They can also be locked to increase security and retrospectively fitted in schools and workplaces. I have never understood why the UK doesn't have them.

Have I slipped through a weird hole in reality? This thread IS in AIBU - did it once live in chat?

We have a red alert now

So basically you want the schools close

We're red alert too now. 31, 38 and 37 on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday respectively.

This is the description of a red weather warning on the BBC:

• Population-wide adverse health effects experienced, not limited to those most vulnerable to extreme heat, leading to serious illness or danger to life. Government advice is that 999 services should be used in emergencies only; seek advice from 111 if you need non-emergency health advice.
• Substantial changes in working practices and daily routines will be required
• High risk of failure of heat-sensitive systems and equipment, potentially leading to localised loss of power and other essential services, such as water or mobile phone services
• Significantly more people visiting coastal areas, lakes and rivers, leading to an increased risk of water safety incidents
• Delays on roads and road closures, along with delays and cancellations to rail and air travel, with significant welfare issues for those who experience even moderate delays

People need to take this seriously and plan accordingly if they're in an area that is going to be affected.

Don’t have the windows open in the day! They need to be closed to prevent the room getting too hot. Then open them when it cools down.

Tie the windows up so they don’t open too far at night.

This is a very interesting thread.

I am not in the UK and we have had temperatures in the high 30s for the past week. 41/42 forecast for the next couple of days. This is about 10 degrees above what we would normally expect at this time of year.

We don't have air-con (it would be quite unusual here) but we do have very thick stone walls which help to keep the house cool (ish)

Some very measured responses on this thread but it is quite worrying to see some of the other current threads with people rubbing their hands in glee and saying "bring it on". These sorts of temperatures aren't just "ooh, lovely warm day", it's brutal.

We have a lot of tourists where we are and I see lots of holidaymakers basking/baking/sizzling in the sun and kids running around with no obvious protection. I am sure there will be an awful lot of sunstroke going on, especially combined with holiday drinking (ice cold rose slips down very nicely in the sunshine!).

Just off to the supermarket now and hope the butter makes it from the shop to the car without turning to liquid.

Stay cool and stay sensible everyone!

It's nice not to have the electric blanket on, though I did consider it last night as it did feel a bit chilly

I think many people in the UK embrace what ever hot weather they can

I’ve been in North Africa when people have been advised to stay out of the sun during the hottest times and who is sunbathing in the direct sunlight then moaning about being burnt and having heat stroke later we are known for this

it’s foolish to be sitting out baking in such intense heat stroke is horrendous and can be very dangerous but the beaches shall be packed in the afternoon little to no shade around

I don’t necessarily think that closure is the right approach but nor do I think we should blindly continue with a normal day, given that there are extreme weather warnings.

I think I would consider closing at lunch, with some provision for children with no alternative childcare, if I was a HT. which I’m not

But regardless of what should happen with schools I think the point is when there’s a red alert out for weather and people stil keep doggedly insisting that there is nothing to worry about it’s a bit annoying!

It reminds me of the end scene in Watership Down when the dog appears with a bleeding dead rabbit in its jaws and Woundwort shouts ‘dogs aren’t dangerous!’