To head to the coast on 40 degree days?

[twordle]

It looks noticeably cooler by the south coast than where we are.. but is everyone going to have same idea? Will we just end up sitting in a traffic jam? Will the roads even melt???!!! Honestly, the fear around the forthcoming heat is real (& genuinely dangerous for the vulnerable I know) but for the rest of us, will it be like that stormy day we had recently where actually it was just a bit blowy for a couple of hours?! School's shut, I'm not working... what will we do all day at home? It will def be too to enjoy outside locally. DC are young teens. What are your plans??

Agree - but I have this annoying 'sun is out, we should be too' attitude which tbf drives my entire family mad! I get the high temps mean this isn't the usual 'sunny day' tho

That’s a terrible idea, trains are often disrupted due to heat, usually because they have to travel at reduced speeds.

Ooh that’s a great shout, might see if there’s something I can take DD to see and bask in the cold for 90 minutes.

But surely the trains won't affect you?

A lot of people at the beach today because it is not that hot, I'm in Northants which is very central and in the hot zone and it was only about 26C in the garden and house has got up to 23C, very pleasant so beaches will be packed.

Swimming another good one. Our local leisure centre pool is always cold!

NC hammer, if trains are not affected they will be fine, I'm sitting on a pretty chilly one now

Obviously if they’re not affected they’ll be fine. But there’s a fair chance of them being affected on Monday/Tuesday when the really high temps are forecast. To the extent that most TOCs are advising people not to travel.

It's not like millions of people will have the same thought! Oh, wait ...

Nchammer, well obviously check the train service first, but they are a viable alternative to cars

No chance of that, they were all cancelling last summer in 27 degrees cos of the tracks buckling 😂

Yes checking the service is a great idea.

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news

Oh look - only travel if absolutely necessary.

Maybe trains will be ok in the morning, but will they be later in the day when you’re trying to get home? I’d not risk it. I’ll be heading to an air conditioned cafe to work there.

As someone who lives in one of those towns I'd really rather people didn't crowd down here on boiling hot days, as it makes getting around v difficult. But on the other hand I do appreciate how lucky we are to live in a place that is so desirable, and wouldn't want to deny anybody a bit of respite on a very hot day.

Getting here will be hot and fraught. The sun will be just as hot down here, you're v likely to burn, and you won't have the respite of home. If I had a pound for every bright red person I've seen traipsing back to the car parks and train stations on boiling hot days I'd be a millionaire.

Is it worth it? If you have young kids I would say absolutely not.

Nc hammer, well that's the point of checking surely? It was merely a suggestion, as people were talking about traffic jams etc

I’m considering taking a camping chair and my iPad and setting myself up in the ‘Chilled’ aisle in Asda… it’s one of the coldest places I know.

West Wittering has signs up saying car parks are full, no more allowed.

We live 2 hrs from the coast and we went last weekend (planned several weeks in advance) The journey down took an hour and a half longer than the journey app predicted and I've never seen so many broken down cars/tyre blow outs. Literally every 20-30 min there was a lane closed for a stationary vehicle (and that was in 26-29° heat)
There was a fresher sort of breeze there and obviously the sea is cool but unless it's nearby I wouldn't chance it.

If you do decide to go, go early.

As PP have said, we don’t need added congestion, stress, traffic from people travelling unessessarily to our area please. I have a community based job (nearish) the sea - I do not want to be stuck in traffic on my way to vulnerable people because Londoners fancied a day out 😫

The reason that people are at risk of becoming seriously unwell is that they do not heed the warnings to stay inside and keep cool! You may not be in the vulnerable group but the whole point of a red warning is that it can be dangerous to any age group. The last thing you want is to be trapped on the motorway for hours with no shade. It’s 2 days!

Even climate change sceptics are acknowledging that this is a step-change in the impact of global warming. Highest temperatures usually change by 0.2 of a degree - this could be up to 3 degrees of increase. So what do people want to do? Get in their cars with the air-conditioning on, sit in traffic jams, and add their own tiny bit to the cause of the problem that we're suffering from.

Maybe get on a plane instead, fly to Aberdeen. It's certainly not hot here.

We booked an Air B&B by the coast months ago, we travel on the Tuesday, 4 hour drive, we can't cancel and we can't reschedule so we're travelling early to avoid the worst of the heat.

It's a complete coincidence that we're in the middle of a heatwave, I think leaving at 2:00pm would be madness but travelling at 7:00am is fairly sensible. I'm not sure I would want to travel down for just a day though! We can retreat into the shade if we need too.

I think it would be cooler in the forest than on the coast, it's always chilly in forests under all the trees!

Can always rely on Mumsnet for a good telling off!