To not understand the constant panic

[Panicnomore]

I'm finding it so incredulous to see the level of panic and hysteria on here about a 2 day heatwave.
Posters seem to be hyping each other up. Can humans no longer cope with anything outside of their comfort zone?

So the met office is saying it will be dangerous, particularly for the vulnerable, and the ambulance service has warned that it won't be able to cope, but bellac11 "doesn't agree!" Fantastic, enjoy the sun everyone, bellac11 says there's nothing to worry about!

I am surprised by the fear of this. I lived in the tropics and these temperatures are just normal peak summer. Hot weather warnings would also get issued but really just apply common sense. Stay out of the midday heat. Take it easy. Stay in the shade. Hydrate.

It won't be pleasant, as most of us have no air con but it is not dire straits either.

In 2003 a heatwave caused 14,000 deaths in France and 30,000 Europe wide. That's why there's panic.

This flawed analogy yet again, it's comparing apples with oranges.

It's right to be concerned but look at the details of France/Europe's heatwave of 2003, and you'll see there's no reason to be panicking yet..

In 2003 in France the hot period lasted pretty much all of July and August, at peak in Northern France there were "eight consecutive days with temperatures of more than 40 °C (104 °F) ....recorded in Auxerre, Yonne in early August 2003."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_European_heat_wave#France

It was the sustained heat throughout the summer of 2003 and then the just over one week very hot period that was literally the killer.

And I don’t think Australia is just getting on with things very well given that half the country is regularly on fire.

Australia has had bushfires for a very long time, and they deal with it. The Australian landscape is so very different to the UK and they know (or they used to, not quite so sure they have a handle on it to the same extent now, but that's another story) how to manage it. It's got nothing to do with a few hot days, which is what we are supposed to be discussing. Even in the bushfires I don't see the level of hysteria there is on MN over a couple of hot days.

I recall a post on MN a few years ago from someone who was a Brit living in this part of the world. She made a comment along the lines that women here are generally more robust than some of the delicate flowers in the UK. I can see what she means.

Well they'll all be enjoying something I wont, I hate the heat, as I said earlier on I have the worst office with massive windows, no air con, no window coverings and paperthin walls.

Plus hot flushes.

But its 2 days.

And ambulances and the NHS havent coped for the past 12 years and probably never will now its been run into the ground.

I wouldn’t say people are fussing over nothing. It’s going to be pretty bad by the looks of things. Three days hovering around 100 degrees is pretty extreme. And we’ve never hit 40 before, not even in 1976 or 2003. People really do die in that kind of heat - and not just the sick or elderly.

It’s also a scary taste of what might be to come. Apparently, the five hottest days ever recorded all occurred in the last 20 years. And now we’re about the break another record. At this rate, what kind of summers will my five-year-old experience when she’s 65?! Will it be hitting 50 degrees in Manchester and London? Will our civilisation survive that long?

I often hope climate change is exaggerated, then something like this happens.

Agree @Panicnomore DH and I have been saying just this today. It's going to be close to 40C in a small part of the country for a few days, (and 35 C or so in about half the country,) and some people are acting like the country is going to be on fire by Tuesday. It's histrionic, OTT scaremongering. (IMO.) I mean FFS it's JULY! It's going to be bloody HOT. It's NOT that shocking!!!

I think the media AND people on here and several other forums have whipped people up into a frenzy. And it's ridiculous. Makes me wonder how the fuck we won 2 world wars tbh. Stay hydrated, keep out of direct sunlight, and make sure you wear sunscreen. Ya know, like every other SUMMER. 🙄

@bellac11

Right, so you a few times saw kids outside playing at maybe 1pm on some random day and that gives you the confidence to speak for the entire Spanish education system.

Whereas I lived in Spain for two years, taught both in school and business, dated a Spaniard and lived with Spaniards. Yet somehow your random recollections are more likely to be true.

And I didn’t say shops and restaurants (which do also tend to have very random opening hours). I said schools and businesses, which is true. I tutor for business English for a year and we started at 7.30am during the Summer because the business day started at 8. People often went home in the afternoon and came back in the evening. Which is fine because most people in Spain wouldn’t dream of having dinner until 9 or 10.

But absolutely you are right. You’ve been to Madrid a few times and know everything.

Yes I KNOW it's been terrible in some other countries. But it's not like that in the UK. (And very likely WON'T be.)

talking of being "whipped in to a frenzy" @WhileMyGuitarGentlyWeeps has arrived straight from page 17 of the Daily Mail (if george harrison saw what reactionary material was posted by your user name he wouldn't be "gently weeping"

. Makes me wonder how the fuck we won 2 world wars tbh.

You didn't win 2 world wars. The Americans and the Russians won the last one

Temperature is measured in the shade

Why not just write" i've no idea what i'm talking about. Piers Morgan sent me here."

The hospital trust spokesman earlier on the news said they are expecting people with burns and people who are dehydrated. All fixable. Who on earth is stupid enough to sit in the sun when it is so hot. Stupid idiots!!

@Sundayvibes no it’s not. I posted the link from the met office further down the thread.

I’m not panicking but I am planning to stay home and keep cool. It’s not my idea of fun, 39 degrees is not my idea of a nice warm day. Some people are more able to take care of themselves with a bit of common sense, some people are prone to flap and they probably need a few wet flannels flinging at them on Monday.

Least it wasn't 'Stay Safe HUN.'

PMSL. 😂 The Americans and Russians couldn't win an egg and spoon race.

Your ignorance is contemptible . It's shocking that someone so ill informed about the world is allowed to post on their own

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties_of_the_Soviet_Union

West Midlands

I'm at risk of heatstroke. I also have to wear thick full length compression post surgery and I don't have air con. I could very easily get very sick very quickly. I had heatstroke once and I never want it again.

Temperature measured for official purposes, e.g. by the Met Office, are measured by thermometers that are housed in ventilated enclosures that protect them from direct sunlight (so whilst the thermometers themselves measure temperature in the shade) ....

www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/guides/observations/how-we-measure-temperature

It's fairly easy to cook the books by sticking a thermometer in direct sunlight and claiming then claiming a national/local record (The Wimbledon thermometer often shown on TV was famously iffy, as in: "Dan, it's twenty degrees warmer here than the Met Office are saying it is in central London....") but as far as records go the numbers are worthless...

hope you'll be OK- and those who are ranting about you being a "dense fucker" are kicked off this board

Sorry about your dog's heart trouble.
We have found (when in the Med) that keeping our dogs wet really helped them.
Damp fur is amazingly cooling - especially if there is a breeze or a fan.

(Our dog used to get quite skippy after a wetting :) )

You're right - whipped up by the media. But then the pandemic showed us that some people love drama and will make a fuss about absolutely anything, no matter how trivial. You do wonder what the wartime generation would think about some people's complete lack of perspective and common sense.