To think we are pathetic in the UK re weather?

[Usery]

Whether it's too hot (it's going to be 40° on Monday don't you know🙄) or too cold or snow or wind etc...

AIBU to think we are a bit pathetic in the UK and a bunch of over reactors when it comes to any sort of "extreme" weather.

40 degrees in this country is not normal. And that worries me.

So no, we are not pathetic. We are not 'pansies' (did someone actually use that word? Wtf)

But maybe their street was the problem? The road I grew up on was a hill, and never got gritted. You could pass by the end of my street easily as that road was usually cleared but that doesn't mean it was safe for me to get off my drive and drive down an icy hill...

This, not to mention the soldiers who have died of heat exhaustion in training, young people dying open swimming and kids left in cars (mainly in the U S). it can catch people out. We have to be careful and take it seriously

To be honest, I haven’t seen any hysteria anywhere. Just warnings and advice which seem sensible, considering we have not had temperatures like that in the UK since records began.

I have lived in Australia and there was just one time where I had a spell of 40deg days. I can only think you haven’t experienced it and really have no idea what it is like. It isn’t a day to go to the beach and I’ll bet you won’t want to walk to school in it either.

Nobody goes for a walk in 40C, I stepped outside to get my lunch and to go to and from the bus stop to get to work. It isn’t pathetic to not want to walk in that kind of heat and if as somebody else has suggested, this is somebody that has a long walk with two children, then you are being nasty now.

Some anti depressions tablets and anxiety tablets can increase risk of heatstroke

I don’t read the Mail so I don’t know what its ongoing coverage of the weather has been, but someone sent me a screenshot of a headline from it which was very much along the lines of OP’s post - it called the Met Office the ‘Nanny State Met Office’.

Some people are being very smug. I haven't seen any hysteria, just sensible precautions for a very unusual weather event.

Many people will find it very uncomfortable, particularly if they have certain health conditions. Many people do not live in large houses which are easy to cool. Many people will have to work in unbearable heat.

Please have a bit of empathy. Check on your neighbours. Leave a bowl of water out for wildlife if you have a garden. Offer your postman a refill of his water bottle (female post persons are also available).

It's the Met Office's job to keep us informed about upcoming weather conditions, ffs.

I'm in Oz too and enjoy a 40 degree plus day, as I have a pool and aircon. But I've lived in London and anything over 30 was absolutely horrendous! Its just too humid, the buildings aren't designed for heat and there isn't enough aircon. So YABU.

Hmm, I don’t think that’s true because I’m remarkably unbothered about your ‘hurty feelings’ over everyone not thinking like you do.

it’s very easy to avoid the predicament you find yourself in getting yourself all upset and angry over what other people say/write which I’m sure you’re more than capable of doing.

I have seen so so many threads whining about how pathetic people are about the weather. Much fewer than those worrying about the weather.

Two days of extreme weather in a temperate climate is more dangerous than a similar temperature in a hotter climate.

I live in a country with a mostly temperate climate. We have had 40 degrees forecast the last couple of years - we just got on with it with the minimum amount of fuss, and we didn't have people dying in the streets. Our hottest recorded day was in 1973, and it was over 40C. We managed then too. I have friends in the UK, not one of them is over-reacting the way many on MN are.

Not many places have to deal with lots of different types of extreme weather. We have to be jack of all trades and this means masters of none.

What rubbish!!

I don't think it's that we're pathetic about the weather, more that we don't have the structure to cope with it, aircon for example would be great but I don't know anyone that has it in their houses, which is a normal household item in most hot countries.

People on MN are not over reacting.

I think it’s really important that this is brought to people’s attention so everyone realises how serious it could be. Only yesterday I was reading about a severely burnt child on the news, and that was from the lower temperatures this week. Heatstroke is dangerous. I’d rather hear it fifty times and have the information get to everyone and for people to realise they need to look out for neighbours etc.

People abroad might not all have air con, but their homes tend to have lovely cool floors which make a massive difference to the temperature - in the UK homes are often carpeted, some have wooden floors but they aren’t the same as the cool stone or tiled floors abroad. They also have metal shutters. Our house is lovely and warm in winter - we only need the heating on for a couple of hours a day as it keeps heat in, but this isn’t ideal in a heatwave!

Children in many parts of the UK are still at school so there isn’t the option to plan to go somewhere cool (like a pp suggested). They’re there all day, 9-3.30 or thereabouts in very warm buildings - one of my DC struggled with it one day this week when it hit late 20s.

Two days in which public health England are expecting roads to melt, train tracks to buckle, multiple drownings in bodies of open water from people going to cool off, water boards to run out of water, the NHS to be overwhelmed, NHS staff to suffer heat exhaustion due to the amount to the quantity and duration of PPE use, shortages of PPE again, NHS buildings to overheat and suffer electrical/building failures, animals will overheat and die, fire services maxing out all of their water storage capacity in readiness for problems, highways agency expecting massive traffic problems and delays and being asked to prepare to provide humanitarian aid to people stuck in traffic in the heat, etc, etc.

Exactly. Whilst some people are vocal about their worries, whether that is excess anxiety or not, there are lots of people who will just quietly struggle, especially people with health conditions. Many ill or disabled people don’t have enough help from carers or family in normal conditions. People can feel too unwell to keep getting up to fill drinks or make food (even more than normal).

Then there is the expensive damage caused to roads when they are melting and people drive on them unnecessarily.

Panicking doesn’t help obviously but it’s just plain stupid to carry on as if nothing is happening.

You're the one who's still going on about it. If you're not bothered, why are you starting yet another thread we don't need just to insult people. That's pathetic.

Not true. I have friends in Austria, they have snow and ice in winter, high 30s in summer. The houses are built for it. They couldn't believe we don't have better insulated houses here, some still have single glazed windows etc.

The whole premise of this thread is stupid.

As a genuine question, why would someone on anti-psychotics die in a few days of heat?

www.mentalhealthtoday.co.uk/news/awareness/ways-to-stay-safe-if-your-psychiatric-medication-impairs-your-temperature-regulation

It's a very serious risk. Most of the people who die in heat events have pre-existing conditions. People with MH conditions and older adults are the most at risk.

We did not have air con in Australia where I grew up. We used to sleep in the (empty) bath and on the tiled floor of the bathroom. That seems odd now but normal then!

Yanbu, although it only seems to be on mumsnet/ in the media. Everyone I know in real life is just getting on with things as normal.

I haven't seen anyone being hysterical. It's an unusual situation, so people are asking others with more experience for advice on how to handle it. My workplace has no air conditioning and can get very hot even on a normal summer day. Some of the staff will be standing all day with only a short break. Other will be doing a lot of lifting and carrying and walking between buildings. Some will be working outside in heavy protective clothing. Some of those people are elderly, have high blood pressure or are in other ways more vulnerable to extreme heat. Some people will be traveling in by train, or cycling into work for a shift starting at midday.I think it's perfectly reasonable for management to consider the safety of staff, and make adjustments to ensure they are healthy and that things can run smoothly despite the heat. It's not "pathetic" to seek advice and make reasonable adjustments to an unusual situation. It's good practice. And the same applies to people's personal lives, too.

The human behaviours you describe are not about "not being educated about heat', rather ignoring common sense.
Every year endless warnings about swimming in dangerous bodies of water (quarries, canals, lakes, etc) are splashed across all media/social media, as are those on how to prevent heatstroke, sunburn etc. Yet every year, stupid/willfully ignorant people repeat stupid behaviour