To think it can't be that hot?

[Hop27]

I live in the tropics, we have long periods of hot weather. It's winter with us and it's 24 degrees. I'm in bed at the moment with long PJ's on. (At home sick) and will probably spend the day in leggings and a hoodie. Browsing through mumsnet, thread upon thread about how it's too hot to eat, to sleep, people canceling plans because of the heat! Even in the height of our summer (mid to high 30's) I don't think I've ever not made dinner or cancelled plans. AIBU to think it can't be that hot, or have I been away from the British summer for too long?

Living abroad allows your body to acclimatise. In the uk we get these bursts of more extreme weather, and no chance to get used to it. When I worked in Cyprus we would be amazed at tourists wandering around in summer clothes when we needs jeans and a jumper.

The other thing is the way everything here isn’t set up for extreme heat - few houses with a/c, homes not built with hot weather in mind, ditto roads/railways etc.

you can’t compare you living with this heat all the time (you don’t have the a/c on all the time because your bodies are used to it).

Not sure what ‘ care and support’ you imagine there is? I’m a mum of 2 with a heart damaged from a heart attack, and mitral valve regurgitation (approx 30% of the blood pumped out ready to go give me oxygen leaks back to the previous heart chamber, thus not giving me the full oxygenisation I need). As it gets hotter I can feel my heart going like the clappers, trying to keep on top of things, within 30 minutes I am feeling lightheaded and nauseous. So far I’ve been able to get away from the heat enough to halt that process. When the weather has been between 28-33. I’m not sure how I’m going to cool down at 39/40.

but yes, I’m hysterical.

Bunnyfuller That sounds awful, I really hope you are going to be OK.

We had the same thing in northern Namibia recently. 28c and we were loving it. The locals were in fleeces and woolly hats, complaining of the cold and offering us blankets to put over our bare legs.

Just said on the news that the peak temperatures will actually tommorrow and the hottest will be the Midlands and North

Oh and I live in the Midlands.

You kind of asked for it

You have acclimatised,that’s all.When my sister comes home from Australia to visit she spends the entire morning because she is so cold.Thsts when it’s a more normal 25c here in summer.She admits she couldn’t live a typical winter here! Horses for courses

I was speaking to a friend of mine the other day who went home to school from 9-16 in Barbados. She doesn't seem to feel the need to compare the heat - says it's on a different scale and very different to e.g. London, if you're quite close to the sea/sea breeze to cool off.

@timestheyarechanging I'm glad you can sit out in a lovely garden having your lunch and sunbathing whilst having access to water on tap.

But what about the teachers who are looking after your 17 year old son and the other pupils?
No sunbathing or sitting outside for them.
What about the bus and train drivers?
The GPs, doctors and nurses?
The care workers who are running about looking after elderly people who may not be as fortunate as your parents getting themselves to the supermarket and back again under their own steam? Or those who, with dementia, forget to drink as my late mother did.
The cleaners who, likely as not, will be cleaning your daughter's office ready for her return on Wednesday when she's had her couple of days working from home.
The delivery drivers who may be bringing your yummy Mediterranean lunch either to the store or to your home is you order on line?
The parents who are trying to keep their kids cool in high rise blocks of flats with no shady garden in site.
And, of course, the people who are going to serving you and your friends when you go out for your little jaunt. Do make sure you don't order any hot food won't you - someone has to stand and cook that don't forget.

Not everyone has the ability to work from home like your daughter and not everyone has access to a garden.

So some people aren't actually panicking. They're trying to work out how they can keep themselves and their families or those they care for from feeling a little unwell at best to ending up in hospital at worst.

When you actually do have business as usual then you can ask what people are panicking for. That would mean your sister etc travelling to work on sweaty trains or in crawling traffic as usual in the heat and then doing a day's work in their normal place of business and hauling themselves home again in packed transport. It would mean you don't have the air con on for the dog or a cool pad and aren't sitting out in the garden all day reading and sunbathing.

As it is it sounds like most of your extended family are actually on the equivalent of a few days holiday - just with a bit of work added into the mix, being done inside or in a nice shady garden. That's not business as usual.

Maybe, instead of wondering why 'everyone is panicking' you may be better off counting your many blessings. Not everyone is as fortunate.

@Bunnyfuller I hope you can keep cool. Our DS has the same heart condition coupled with aortic stenosis. He's at school today (his choice) with a wet flannel and a couple of instant ice packs plus loads of water. We'll see about tomorrow when he gets home.

Imagine working/living among this hysteria.
Roll on, Wednesday.

Yes, what that poster was essentially saying is that she's privileged enough not to have to worry. Bit of a Marie Antoinette vibe. The worry is for those who aren't that fortunate.

Can confirm it is COOKING in the midlands

Where is this care and support coming from? Who is delivering the post, emptying the bins, staffing the hospitals, teaching the kids?

Oh yes, the drudges that are providing this CARE and SUPPORT for the rest of society. But I'm all right Jack, let's sneer at those stupid bastards for going to work today, without the so-called legal 'thermal comfort' that employers are supposed to provide, for the good of us all.

Starting a thread about how we're all making a silly fuss about nothing over our temperatures is really pointless.

So what if you live in the tropics OP. In what way does that related to what we're experiencing here?

We're not used to these kind of temperatures, our homes are not built to deal with the heat.

I lived in a hot country in the 70s.

Everywhere you went there was air conditioning.

My apartment had air conditioning, but no central heating. The floors were stone, there were shutters on the windows to keep out the heat and the occasional sand storms. It was a building for a hot country.

After living there for a year I got married there . It was August, it was 40 degrees. I was happily swanning around in my wedding dress because I'd acclimatised to the heat. The people who came from England for the wedding were melting and complaining.

By contrast, during the winter when it rained and got quite chilly, especially at night, it was bloody freezing. I lived in an older building, and as I said there was no central heating. I've never been so cold in my life and I spent most of the winter trying to get warm.

We're not used to these kind of temperatures and our homes in Britain are not built for this sort of heat and humidity.

Whatever you're experiencing in the tropics has no bearing on what we are experiencing here.

That's not really correct though HTH

We've spent the day at the beach same as we spoke have in this temperature on holiday abroad. DC have spent hours splashing in the sea to keep cool. At least you can do that in the North Sea- in the med the Shallow water can feel like a bath by mid July . No one has sweated off any sun cream. People drink in the sun on holiday too - usually to no ill effect We're in Amber zone rather than red but the couple of degrees wouldn't have made a massive difference. Might have used factor 50 and reapplied even more often. I understand it's hard for people working in certain jobs - I know, I've been there but a lot of healthy adults are worrying about it without those commitments. Seen lots of advice to sit inside with the blinds down etc. that's where it gets a bit silly.

Being told to sit inside with the blinds down is a bit like lockdown, keeping us safe...

Try the 38 plus we have here. We are sweating indoors.

We have the blinds down, I dread to think how hot it would be without.

You live by the coast, with a breeze Try living in the centre of the country where there is no hint of one.

We have lived abroad, it is nothing like this.

I live in Ohio, and we regularly have days in the summer that are 95°F +, often over 100°. But pretty much all buildings here are air conditioned. And we're used to it. If you're not used to it, it's different. And I wouldn't want to not have A/C on a 95°+ degree day.

I've done that for my dogs though with 2 fans on and they are still too hot. If I hadn't done that I hate to think how miserable the would have been because they not used to it.

I don’t understand your post.
I’ve been out and about today.
I’ve been working.
I’ve just taken DC out gif I’ve cream.
I just don’t get the hysteria.
My colleagues and I are just getting on with it.

SaySomethingMan

It depends where you are, what you do for a job, age, health etc.

Well done for coping.

Seen lots of advice to sit inside with the blinds down etc. that's where it gets a bit silly.

Nah that's perfectly sensible advice and common practice in many hot countries. We did it today with the side of the house that gets the sun

Do you want a medal?

It's still 38 here and very hot and we are sweltering.

We have lived in very hot countries and 'got on with it'. This is different.